uI like to press my ear against their rugged surface, run my fingers down the ridges of the bark. I close my eyes and breath in the scent of resins, of wet earth. Trees are special for me: they give me peace. That’s why I decided to make a documentary about the most significant trees on campus. I believe it’s important to have a visual archive of their existence, their history and the challenges they have faced, and continue to face.
When I came to the University of Iowa and stood in front of the Old Capitol building for the first time, it was August. I saw young people lying on the grass, shirtless, others playing volleyball or throwing a frisbee. I saw a woman sitting under the shade of a towering tree reading a book. That tree, now I know, is a Black Walnut and according to arborist Andrew Dahl, it could be close to 150 years old. “There is a picture of the tree in 1910 and it was already big,” Dahl said. “I wonder how many people this tree has seen come and go. And it’s still standing.”
The Black Walnut is a State Champion, which means it’s the biggest tree of its kind in Iowa. The Champion label refers to a system that ranks the biggest trees in each state. Thanks to Dahl I’ve learned that age and size are not necessarily related. “There are very old trees that are not necessarily that big,” he said. I’ve learned about the White Oak tree, which currently stands south of the nursing building. With an estimated age of 300 years, it will unfortunately be felled in the next months because it has died. “Too much stress,” Dahl said. “In the location where it stands, there’s not too much water. And climate change has exacerbated the conditions.”
One of the important aspects of this project is to document how global warming is impacting the ecosystems, in particular the way trees adapt to change in the environment. Thought trees can be resilient, the older they get, the more fragile they become. That’s why the university has implemented measures to protect some of its trees. The Black Walnut, which was struck by a lightning, has now a system with rods and wiring that reduces the risk of sever damage by lighting strike. An American Elm, former State Champion, also standing on the Pentacrest, receives injections of a fungicide to reduce the risk of Dutch elm disease, a fungal infection that has caused the death of several millions of trees since its introduction in the US in the 1930s.
Over the next few weeks, I intend to keep having conversations with Dahl and document as specific details as I can about the trees on campus.
Friday, June 28, 2024