(April 29, 2008)

ROCKPORT--There are lots of amazing sights around our country, but one of the most interesting natural wonders is rooted in Aransas County. When we say rooted, we're talking about a tree that's more than a thousand years old

It's called the big tree, a huge oak, growing in Goose Island State Park across Copano Bay north of Rockport. Park docents said it's one of the oldest and most famous Live Oak trees in the world.

The pride of Texas and the state's oldest living thing, the Big Tree is considered to be the icon of Goose Island State Park in Aransas County. The Coastal Live Oak tree is more than a thousand years old, one of the oldest trees in America. It's 44 feet tall. It has a circumference of more than 35 feet wide and a crown spread of 90 feet.

From all over the nation, visitors come just to see it and enjoy its beauty and its volume of shade.

"It's a beautiful tree," said Virginia Brakefield, a tourist. "I would love to have it in my backyard."

"It's just a magnificient old tree," said Byron Gass, a tourist visiting the state park. "It's amazing how it stood all those years. It's pretty spread out and it's a monster tree."

The Big Tree is on the Lamar Pennisula about 300 yards from the St. Charles Bay. When it began its life as the ancestors of the Carancahua Indians roamed this area. The Big Tree was living before Aztec Indians were even a people. It witnessed the discovery of the New World, The Spanish Conquest, The Golden Age of Pirates and the rise of the Mexican Empressarios. 

The park interpreter said it even survived the bombing of the Lamar Pennisula during the Civil War.

"Very few things survive," said Mike Mullenweg, who works as the park interpreter at Goose Island State Park. "One was a chapel. The other was the big tree. Nearly every home was bombed or burned down and certainly most of the ranches and farms were destroyed."

Mullenweg said the Big Tree also survived natural disasters, including droughts, tornadoes, deadly lightning stirkes and about 50 hurricanes. It's located near the Barrier Islands with the wetlands protecting it.

"A little bit of luck, Mullenweg said. "A little bit of geographic location. A little bit of being a genetically a very hearty strong tree."

Texas Parks and Wildlife takes care of the tree. On the tree, it's even protected from lightning strikes and now has a limb support system.

"If you look up into the tree, we'll see some metal cables and those bind the limbs together and give it added strength during high winds," said Mullenweg. 

The state park has put up a three-foot fence for added protection.

"So many people do come and enjoy the Big Tree that there was actually a problem of people coming up to the Big Tree," Mullenweg said. "It was compacting the soil so oxygen and water were not filtering down into the roots."

Four months ago, a tree specialist also gave the Big Tree a check up.

"There's no evidence that the tree is weakening, that the tree is sick or suffering," said Mullenweg. "So the only thing I can say is future of the Big Tree looks very bright."

State Park Rangers aren't sure how much longer the Big Tree will be around, but visitors hope it will be around for awhile, so future generations can see it.

"We got to preserve the things of nature that we have," Shirley Gass, a tourist, said. "Sure. I want my three great-grandsons to be able to see this."

The state just hopes the big tree won't die on their watch.

Note: The Big Tree is free for the public to see at Goose Island State Park. Once a week on Saturdays at 4 pm, the gate is opened for an hour so the public can see the tree up close and listened to a presentation about the tree.

--Manuel De La Rosa, Area 3 News, mdelarosa@kiiitv.com