By Sheila Garrett
Special to the Enterprise

These trees are the last living witnesses to the life of Teddy Roosevelt
and his family. We know he had an absolute reverence for trees.
– David Milarch,
Champion Tree Project
International in 1995

A SAPLING that sits in the John G. Suelzer Memorial Park
on North Lake Leelanau was cloned from a tree grown by
Theodore Roosevelt.

In 1894, Teddy Roosevelt – who was yet to become our most environmentally conscious president – planted a tree at his home at Sagamore Hill, on Oyster Bay in Long Island, New York.

The tree, a European copper beech sapling, must have looked pretty lonely on the nearly barren 95-acre estate, which had once been a wheat field. But the tree grew.

It stood to the right of the porte-cochere (carriage house). Roosevelt could pause while looking up from his work in his library, and see the tree. He had his photo taken by the tree in 1905. By that time, the trunk was about 8 inches in diameter.

Roosevelt continued to plant trees, purchasing many of them from the Hicks Nurseries in Westbury, N.Y. Sagamore Hill today includes 40 acres of trees, many of them having historic significance.

“These trees are the last living witnesses to the life of Teddy Roosevelt and his family,” said David Milarch, the Copemish tree farmer who, with his son, Jared, founded Champion Tree Project International in 1995. “We know he had an absolute reverence for trees.”

Today, a modest-sized remnant of the Roosevelt tree, the first of the Sagamore Hill trees to be cloned, is standing in a small park on the shores of Lake Leelanau. The clone was planted a few years ago, and supporters hope it will one day grow to the size of the original tree, which towers over the three-story house where the Roosevelt family lived for many years. Right now, it stands a little less than five feet high at its location at the John G. Suelzer Memorial Park on the shores of North Lake Leelanau.

“I am very pleased to learn that a tree of this significance would be planted in one of our township’s parks,” said James W. Saffell, chairman of the Parks and Recreation Commission of Leelanau Township.

Visitors to Leelanau County are also beginning to stop to inquire – “Is that the million dollar tree?” – after the tree was shown on TV 7&4 News on Thursday, Aug. 16. During the news clip, Milarch made reference to various costs involved in cloning, tending and transporting the tree, which spawned its nickname.

Other clones of the original aging tree are destined to live at Sagamore Hill, the White House in Washington, D.C., and at Mount Rushmore in S.D., according to Jarrett Carroll, writing in The Canopy.

Championship Tree Project International is currently involved in cloning the Mount Rushmore Collection, a group of trees that had meaning for certain presidents in our history.

The first clone of the Mount Rushmore Collection is one of George Washington’s white oaks from Mount Vernon, originally planted two centuries ago. The clone may now be seen at the U.S. Capitol. In addition, the cloning of a number of trees from Thomas Jefferson’s home at Monticello is in progress.

“The Lincoln tree is yet to be done,” said Terry Stanton, a Leelanau County conservationist who added that he believed a suitable tree had been located.

The mission of the Champion Tree Project is to lead society toward sustainability by preserving Champion Trees, the largest and oldest individual trees of their species and educating the public on the benefits of planting trees.

For further information, contact David or Jared Milarch at 17645 Nessen Road, Copemish, MI 49653, or fax them (231) 378-4948. Their email address is info@championtreeproject.com.