A Michigan man has found his calling, seeking to reproduce some of the oldest and biggest trees ever known to humanity by cloning them, according to the online magazine Reasons to Be Cheerful.
From his 150-acre farm in Copemish, David Milarch is on a mission to restore the majesty of old-growth forests, something he believes can play a key role in reversing the trend of rising global temperatures.
“Ninety-eight percent of the old-growth forest has been logged,” Milarch told Reasons to Be Cheerful. “We have to save the remaining 2%. If you were down to the last 2% of your life savings or your gas tank, wouldn’t you do everything you could to make it go further?”
Milarch’s fascination with big trees and his belief in their being an antidote to rising temperatures is based in science. One study examining the impact of large-diameter trees found that the largest 1% of trees hold 50% of all carbon stored in forest ecosystems.
Milarch’s hope is that by growing genetic clones of some of the largest and most resilient trees in history, he can restore old-growth forests to their former glory — and capture planet-heating carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in the process.
“I think it could reverse climate change,” Milarch said.
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At his farm, Milarch and his two sons transform clippings from legendary trees into saplings that share the same genetics as the so-called “super trees.”
“The big old-timers have proven their genetic mettle,” Milarch told Jim Robbins for a book, The Man Who Planted Trees, per Reasons to Be Cheerful. “They are survivors.”
The world-famous trees that Milarch has cloned include the 243-foot-tall Amos Alonzo Stagg Tree, which is one of the world’s tallest sequoias, and Waterfall, which had the largest ground perimeter of any known sequoia at 140 feet. After living for 3,000 years, Waterfall was destroyed by fire in 2020, making Milarch’s genetic clone all the more significant.
Milarch’s collection even includes saplings from the Fieldbrook Stump in England, the largest coast redwood ever discovered, even though the tree was felled in 1860.
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“But there was still life in it 15 years ago, so we cloned it,” Milarch explained, according to Reasons to Be Cheerful.
In cloning many of these trees, Milarch has defied what scientists believed possible. Many experts doubted that redwood trees more than 80 years old could be cloned, but Milarch proved them wrong.
To make his clones, Milarch often begins with trimmings from the original trees themselves. By placing these clippings in a unique blend of soil and hormones, he encourages them to sprout their own roots and become their own saplings.
From his farm, Milarch sends these super-tree saplings around the world to environments where he hopes they will thrive. Milarch’s trees have been planted in places as far flung as Australia, New Zealand, and Wales, per Reasons to Be Cheerful.
However, a project closer to home is nearest to Milarch’s heart: the one in his hometown of Detroit.
There, in four connecting city lots, 225 giant sequoias donated by Milarch have been growing, some for as many as 10 years. As the trees grow, they will provide cooling shade amid the urban heat while also improving air quality.
“It’s the worst environmental area of the whole greater Detroit area; the asthma rates are twice the rest of Detroit,” Milarch said. “It’s a nightmare. And it’s perfect for the message we have for that project and for the rest of the world because every major city has areas like that.”
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