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Early questions Smith started hunting and measuring trees when he was in eighth grade, but his fascination started much earlier. He said his parents tell stories about a curious youngster worried about trees. “There was the time when I was 3 or 4 when my parents came outside and found me crying,” said Smith. “Apparently, I was crying because the neighbors were cutting down their trees.” On trips to the Boundary Waters as a boy, Smith said, he would ask his father countless questions about trees. About how big and old they could get. About blow downs. About fire and its effect on forests. “My interest in trees was always there,” Smith said. “I’ve always asked a lot of questions.” As a forestry student, he can now answer his own questions. For example, what makes a big tree? “It all depends on the species, of course, but it comes down to the big factors of nutrients, sunlight, soil, water, competition for those things, and weather and outside influences,” Smith said. “A sugar maple, for instance, can spend the majority of its life in the understory before growing into the canopy. A red cedar, on the other hand, is intolerant of shade. It just all depends.” Smith said he registered his first tree with the DNR in 2010 — a black willow found in Brooklyn Park. It measured roughly 18 feet in circumference. “It wasn’t in some pristine woodland. … I found it about 30 feet from a parking lot in an incredibly polluted wetland,” said Smith, adding that his largest tree also is a black willow with a girth of 26 feet. He found it in Elm Creek Park Reserve in Maple Grove. “There was a learning curve for me early on because I was learning the species as I went along and got some wrong originally. It takes time. The great thing about hunting big trees is that you can find one anywhere. You can stumble on a huge tree at a shopping center.” Smith’s favorite tree is the tamarack, which he says is the only deciduous conifer native to Minnesota. Minnesota is also home to the nation’s largest tamarack, found in 2004 on private land in Crow Wing County. It’s 71 feet tall, with a 133-inch circumference and a 60-foot crown spread. “There are so many features to the species,” he said. “They’re absolutely beautiful in the fall … and one of its natural habitats — peat bog — is almost alien in nature because it’s so different from any other ecosystem.” “Sense of wonder” When Smith finishes college, his career goal isn’t so surprising. “My perfect job would probably be something like a city forester or possibly a forester for an urban park district,” he said. “I like the idea of managing the city forest for a community.” In his spare time, he’ll be hunting for a tree that makes Minnesota’s Big Tree Registry. “There is definitely a sense of awe and wonder for me, especially if the tree or woods is really special,” he said. “Part of the reason is because something so massive as a big tree commands respect. When you stretch your neck and look left and right but still cannot see the whole tree, it is a magical experience for me.” Tori J. McCormick is a freelance writer from Prior Lake. Reach him at torimccormick33@gmail.com