Nonprofits Race to Map and Preserve Historic Trees

Around the country, nonprofits are racing Mother Nature and Father Time to identify aging trees that marked historic wilderness trails used by American Indians and early settlers, according to the Associated Press.

Mary Graves, leader of the Dallas Historic Tree Coalition, says the mission of mapping trees grows more urgent as many of them become susceptible to the ravages of old age. “We feel time pressure to let people see these wonderful trees before they are gone,” said Ms. Graves.

Mountain Stewards, in Jasper, Ga., has spent the last five years compiling a database of the trees and now registers about 1,850 of them in 39 states, all at least 150 years old, that were used by American Indians as trail landmarks.

Wallace Coffey, former chairman Comanche Nation, in Lawton, Okla., has consulted with the Dallas Historic Tree Coalition. He told the news service he’s happy that efforts are being made to map and preserve the marker trees. “When I hear people are interested in it, I think they are starting to understand that there are a lot of messages on this earth that people cannot take for granted anymore.”