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St. Tammany Parish:
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The Live Oak Society |
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by Stephen Faure
I can’t imagine what growing up as a Southerner would be like without spending a good deal of time among the limbs of a live oak tree. From playing in the one in my backyard in suburban New Orleans or in the giant live oaks in City Park and Audubon Park during family outings, to resting in the shade of one of LSU’s live oaks between classes, it seems to me the live oak tree has always been there.
It’s no coincidence that the live oak symbolizes strength, stability and steadfastness: The trees are evergreens; they are some of the longest-lived in the world, and the wood they yield when harvested is some of the strongest and most resilient. It was, in fact, the most sought-after wood for building warships prior to iron and steel construction. Beginning in the Revolutionary War, the U.S. Navy purchased reserves of live oak stands in the Carolinas and Georgia to ensure the shipbuilders’ supplies of live oak wood. It was valued not only for its strength, but also because the oak’s “knees”—where the large curved limbs meet the trunk—were often the perfect shape for forming and bracing the sides of warships. The famous warship U.S.S. Constitution earned its nickname, “Old Ironsides,” during the War of 1812 because enemy fire bounced off her live oak timbers.
Admiration for the live oak and a need for a means to catalog and preserve the oldest and grandest of its specimens gave birth in 1934 to the Live Oak Society. Dr. Edwin Lewis Stephens, president of Southwestern Louisiana Institute, now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, envisioned a society in which the live oak trees themselves would be the members, with the largest being its president. Each tree would have a human sponsor, and one human being would serve as chairman and be responsible for maintaining the registry of trees. Dr. Stephens began with 45 member-trees.
The criterion for registration is that the tree must have a girth (circumference) of a minimum of eight feet when measured at 4-4 1/2 feet from the ground. Live oaks measuring at least 16 feet are considered more than 100 years old and are registered as Centenarians.
Current chairman Coleen Perilloux Landry of Metairie presides over the registry of 5,003 trees located in 14 states, and has brought these ancient giants into the information age. She maintains an up-to-date listing of the society’s members on the Internet, and has a registration form available online.
Under her tutelage, the society has played an increasing role in the conservation of its members. Old Dickory in Jefferson Parish, a 25-foot-plus tree, was saved from destruction in 2003. In a campaign led by the Live Oak Society, a Louisiana highway project was redesigned, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ drainage project was restructured, and a land developer’s plan for a subdivision was revised.
“It was amazing how many different agencies came together to save that oak,” she says. The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development now has a policy for considering the effect any of its projects may have on trees of historic interest; it has become a model for policies in other states.
The northshore is an important area for the live oak, with approximately 375 registrations in St. Tammany Parish and 268 in Tangipahoa. Mandeville alone has 110 oaks registered, with 10 of those in the Lewisburg area on the shore of Lake Pontchartrain. Chairman Landry says that the soil in the area from Madisonville to Mandeville to Lacombe and Slidell promotes the growth of the live oak, but many of the area’s giants are not members of the society. One of her goals is to get more people to register their oaks so that the trees will be better protected if they are threatened by future development.
The magnificent Seven Sisters Oak in Lewisburg is the largest live oak in the world, with a girth of more than 38 feet. Estimated by foresters to be 1,200 years old, it has been the society’s president since 1968. It is also recognized as Champion Oak of the Louisiana Forest Association and is the National Champion on the National Register of Big Trees. Formerly known as “Doby’s Seven Sisters,” it was first named by Carole Hendry Doby, who was one of seven sisters.
St. Joseph Abbey in St. Benedict near Covington is home to four registered oaks. The largest, the Abbot Paul Schaueble Oak, has a 20-foot girth and is named after St. Joseph’s first abbot. Chairman Landry believes it is one of the finest live oaks to be found; there are no other trees in the area to impair its growth. This mammoth oak presides over the abbey’s cemetery, and many find solace in its shade. As Abbot Justin explains, “A lot of people are drawn to it. Family members of those buried here find it a peaceful place to sit.”
Abbey historian Fr. Dominick relates a story illustrating the live oak’s enduring toughness. In 1957, a tornado struck the area and took the midsection out of the Abbott Paul Oak. Although many alternatives were considered for repairing the tree, it was decided that the best course of action was to leave the tree to heal on its own; it has filled out to become the remarkable icon it remains today.
The normally mysterious, moss-draped giants also lend themselves to merrymaking. The annual Christmas in the Oaks celebration takes place in the largest registered stand of live oak trees: City Park in New Orleans, with 249 registered trees.
For more information and a form to register your live oak, see the Live Oak Society Web pages on the Louisiana Garden Club Federation’s Web site: http://www.louisianagardenclubs.org/pages/oak.htm.
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Copyright 2006, M&L Publishing, all rights reserved. |
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