There's a tree in Georgia that owns itself.
Not all who speak for the trees are storybook characters … or even alive. That’s true in the case of Colonel William H. Jackson, a college professor and resident of Athens, Georgia, who sought to protect his favorite tree long after he was able to enjoy its shade. A portion of Jackson’s will made its way into newspapers around 1890, thanks to an unusual request — that his favorite childhood tree, and 8 feet of land surrounding it, be given to the tree itself.
While the city of Athens has respected Jackson’s wishes and cared for the tree (with the help of gardening groups), it’s unclear whether the white oak has any legal roots to stand on. No modern person has ever seen the deed Jackson supposedly drew up to give the tree ownership of itself, and Georgia law doesn’t permit nonhuman entities to possess property. Yet no one has ever contested the tree’s ability to own itself, and Jackson’s oak has become a beloved local landmark. When it fell in 1942 during a windstorm, its acorns were collected and sprouted so that a descendant sapling could be replanted in the same spot.
Amazingly, Georgia isn’t the only place with a self-owning tree. Eufaula, Alabama — a town of 12,600 people some 200 miles from Athens — is home to another independent oak. In 1935, the area garden club advocated to protect a 65-foot-wide post oak (called the Walker Oak) in the middle of town, hoping to preserve a popular spot where children played. Mayor E.H. Graves recorded a “deed of sentiment” stating in part that the tree was “a creation and gift of the Almighty, standing in our midst — to itself — to have and to hold itself,” and an iron fence with a plaque was installed around the tree. Despite its safeguarding, a windstorm toppled the original 200-year-old hardwood nearly three decades later in 1961. But just like with its counterpart in Athens, townsfolk worked to replace the tree with another tree that still stands today.
Oak trees are known to shower yards, cars, and even people with a deluge of acorns — some autumns more than others. The number of acorns a single tree drops depends on the year, since oaks follow a pattern of lean and heavy acorn-producing seasons. In “mast years,” aka years when trees produce a heavier-than-normal supply of the nuts, oaks can drop up to 10,000 acorns. Scientists aren’t entirely sure what causes mast years, but the cycle occurs every two to five years, regardless of weather or rainfall. One working theory is that the mast year cycle outsmarts predators such as squirrels and chipmunks, allowing oak trees to saturate their environment with more acorns than can be eaten and giving future saplings a shot at sprouting.
