While ReLeaf Michigan’s 16th Biennial Big Tree Hunt, which ran through 2023 to August 2025, is now closed, one entry from Northport may just be the largest on record to date.
Heather and Greg Maier, owners of the historic Skye House and gardens in the heart of Northport, had volunteer verifier and Michigan Forest Association Outreach Forester Ellie Johnson stop by on Sept. 18 to measure the circumference of a towering Eastern Cottonwood tree in their yard. Tree size in the contest is determined by circumference, the measurement around the trunk, with Heather adding that it was exciting to hear that their tree came in larger than expected at 331.5 inches.
The last Big Tree Hunt from 2020-2022 for largest tree in Michigan highlighted an Eastern Cottonwood from Monroe County that came in at around 301 inches, so the Maier’s entry would beat that record. Other entries from the state, of course, still need to be reviewed in the contest, but the Maier’s got word just this week that their tree is a winner. Now, they wait to see if they are the contest winner of the largest tree measured in the state.
“We’re very excited that Northport is in the running for the biggest tree, we have a very good shot,” Heather said. “We entered it because we have this enormous tree on the property and I wanted to support forestry. We’re conservationists and really want to plant a lot of trees on our property that serve as a pollinator corridor, and that serves for basically a wildlife corridor… We want to make the place beautiful for people to enjoy, but also to preserve its importance in the ecosystem, so we were taking a really good inventory of our trees and what we have on the property.”
Greg shared the same excitement, adding that it was great to hear that not only were they in the running for the contest, but that it’s a possibility they might have the largest cottonwood tree in the state recorded by the organization. It has been a few years since the Maier’s first submitted an entry for the Big Tree Hunt, so it came as a pleasant surprise when they were contacted by arborists in September to come and measure the tree.
“As ridiculous as this sounds, it’s one of the most exciting things to ever happen to me. I just love trees… I’ve always loved to walk through the forest and identify the trees that I see by different means, either by the bark or the leaf. I never considered having a property that would have some kind of remarkable feature like this, and I really didn’t expect it here, being a little neighborhood in a town… I’m excited for the village of Northport to have another thing that adds charm and personality to our community.”
Cottonwoods can grow to be massive as they are a species that love sunlight and thrive in open spaces, and can often be found along rivers and wetlands where water is abundant. According to ReLeaf Michigan, their rapid growth and access to full sunlight allow them to become some of the largest trees in Michigan. It’s also fitting that one of the possibly largest cottonwood trees in the state could be located in Northport, seeing as of 2023, the village was designated as part of the “Tree City USA” community by the Arbor Day Foundation.
The Maier’s have a variety of trees and plant species on their property, but the massive Eastern Cottonwood is the largest tree species that they’re aware of. Heather said they’re unsure how long the tree has stood, but she does remember seeing the tree when she was growing up. The house itself was built in 1877 and has been in her family for well over a century.
ReLeaf Michigan created the Big Tree Hunt in 1993 to celebrate Michigan’s beauty and to create a fun way to gather and track information about the state’s biggest trees. Results of the Big Tree Contest will be officially released in conjunction with the awards ceremony on October 18 in Midland, however, Big Tree nominators will be notified in advance.
