(Riverton, WY) – Riverton residents Scott and Shanell Stanley recently learned they have the largest silver maple growing on their property in the State of Wyoming.
The Wyoming State Forestry Division’s Champion Trees program recognizes the largest living specimens of all native and the most commonly introduced tree species in Wyoming.
This silver maple received recognition in late May, replacing the previous champion in Sheridan.
The Stanleys purchased their home in 1986.
“It was actually one of the reasons I bought the house because I knew it was a fabulous tree,” Scott shared with County 10.
It was surprising for there to be a champion tree in Riverton, according to SAF/ISA certified forester and arborist Josh Shroyer, who took the measurements.
“We’re so deserty here without irrigation, and honestly, irrigation is what helped that tree get to the size it is,” he said.
The tree’s total score is 274.6 points. It measured 16 feet 55 inches in circumference, 53 feet high, and had a crown spread of 23 feet.
Shroyer also did a core sample of the tree and extrapolated an estimated tree age, which determined it was planted around 1910. Just four short years after Riverton was established.
Check out the Champion Tree Program here.