National Champion Red Ash Dowigiac, Michigan girth = 263 inches — height = 95 feet crown spread = 96 feet

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah—Everyone knows that the Olympics is synonymous with "champions." But the Olympic Winter Games of 2002 in Salt Lake City will not only attract champion athletes, but also champion trees!

As part of its efforts to promote the "Greenest Games Ever," the Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC) for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games of 2002 will be planting thousands of trees in the Salt Lake City area before and after the Winter Games in February. Some of these trees will be the world's first clones of America's old-growth forest giants.

"Through a partnership with The National Tree Trust, we will plant 65 national Champion Tree clones this fall at sites associated with the Olympic Winter Games of 2002," explained Diane Conrad Gleason, director of SLOC Environmental Programs. "These Champion Tree clones add a special element to our urban forestry program, and will serve as part of the legacy of being an Olympic host city.

According to Gleason, "The initial goal of our urban forestry project was to see 100,000 trees planted in Utah before the start of the games. It is an integral part of our air quality plan to mitigate the effects of increased traffic and visitors expected at the Games."

The Champion Tree clones will be introduced to the media at a news conference on Monday, October 29, 2001 at 2:00 PM MT at Liberty Park in Salt Lake City. Officials from SLOC, the National Tree Trust, and the Champion Tree Project will introduce the trees and present insight into the special role they will play in the Salt Lake City community.

Champion Trees — What are they?

David Milarch

"A Champion Tree is the biggest and often the oldest specimen of its species," explains David Milarch, a Michigan tree farmer who, along with son, Jared, created the Champion Tree Project in 1996. "These old forest giants had the genes and good luck to survive recent centuries of industrialization, development and deforestation. They are the gold medallists of their kind."

George Cates Executive Director, National Tree Trust

Using tissue taken from the parent tree, clones are created by using grafting, rooted cutting, air-layering or tissue culturing propagation techniques. These clones, or tree cultivars, have been trademarked ChampTrees™, and have the same genetic makeup of the mother Champion Tree. Understanding the value of this project to the future of American forestry, the Washington, DC-based National Tree Trust has committed itself as a full partner in the effort to gather and protect the genetic material of the largest examples of the nation's many tree species.

"America trusts the National Tree Trust to promote the growth and maintenance of trees in every kind of community, urban or rural," explains Major General George Cates (USMC Ret.), Executive Director of the National Tree Trust. "By supporting the cloning of America's Champion Trees, we've found a superb way to let people know about the numerous benefits healthy trees provide to the nation."

Champion Trees are being planted in safe havens called Archival Living Libraries, where future generations will be able to study them. These planting sites include George Washington's Mount Vernon, Arlington National Cemetery and botanical gardens, schools and public buildings across the country. David Milarch's family nursery is donating the first 25 ChampTrees™ to the Olympic Winter Games of 2002 and sums up his sentiment this way, "These trees represent hope, and after all that these trees have survived, maybe they can be our symbol of hope that we will prevail as a nation."

Pentagon Plantings A 9/11 Memorial Under leadership of George Cates (Major-General ret., U.S. Marines), Executive Director of The National Tree Trust, in April 2002, a memorial planting of ChampTrees™ will be made to honor all those who died in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the Pentagon.

To ensure that its tree-planting efforts produced the best possible result, SLOC teamed with scientists at NASA and the Utah Office of Energy Services in a program dubbed "Cool Spaces 2002." Pilots with NASA's Urban Heat Island Project flew over the Salt Lake region in planes equipped with high-definition infrared cameras. Their photographs were used to plot a number of tree-barren "hot spots," which will be the target of some of the planting efforts.

"In 1994, 'environment' joined 'sport' and 'culture' as the third governing principle of the Olympic Movement," Gleason adds. "As promised in our original bid, the Salt Lake Organizing Committee has developed a variety of programs to both conserve and enhance the region's environment, leaving the Salt Lake area a better, cleaner place than it was before the Games.

Contacts:
Jeanne Shaw, Media Relations Manager
Salt Lake Organizing Committee, 801-212-4241
Paul Rosenthal, Communications Manager
National Tree Trust, 800-846-8733 ext. 17
David Milarch, founder
Champion Tree Project, 231-378-2172

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The Environmental Program of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC) for the Winter Olympics of 2002 ensures that SLOC displays environmental sensitivity in venue development and operation, educates both Utahns and their guests on sound environmental practices, and leaves a legacy of improvement and enhancement to the region. The SLOC environmental program has also been supported in part by the participation of several Environmental Champions: Anheuser-Busch, Utah Power/Pacificorp, the USDA Forest Service, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
www.saltlake2002.com

The National Tree Trust was established in 1990 to mobilize volunteer groups, promote public awareness of trees and their benefits, provide grants, and unite civic and corporate institutions in support of local tree planting and education projects throughout the United States. The mission of the National Tree Trust is to act as a catalyst for local volunteer groups in the growing, planting, and maintenance of trees in rural communities, urban areas, and along our nation's highways.
www.nationaltreetrust.org

The Champion Tree Project is a grass-roots, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Michigan tree farmers David and Jared Milarch to preserve, propagate and plant a living legacy of our Champion Trees. The organization is seeking individual and corporate support to save the genetics of our old-growth forest giants before they die.
www.championtrees.org

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The Earth Restoration and Reforestation Alliance — www.championtrees.org — updated 4/14/2003