The Tree Takes Shape

The base of The American Tree is an actual 287-year-old Californian Oak tree trunk, originating from O'Neill Regional Park in Trabuco Canyon, California. At its cross section this particular Oak tree is just under 4 feet wide. The park offered this fallen tree trunk to Hal when they had heard about The American Tree Foundation project.

“Originally I was going to use a California Redwood as the base for The American Tree. However when I saw this tree stump I was stunned by its size and immediately saw the implications of an Oak being used as a national symbol of strength.” Hal Arscott.

Hal recovered this tree by gently digging out the roots, and then by scrubbing off

the bark with a spoon and a few toothbrushes in order to preserve the natural state of the wood and root system. The top part of the base was leveled off, so that he could begin assembling the chunks of wood that he was collecting from every state tree in the union.

By contacting each state legislature, Hal was able to procure a section of wood originating from that state’s designated tree. The criteria for each chunk of wood was simple; It had to conform roughly to the dimensions of 2 and ½' by 3’. It had to be raw, meaning that the bark had to still be on it. And the most important thing to Hal was that no living trees were to be cut down for this project. Also, the state had to identify the wood, sign it with the state’s seal, and date it. Then one of The American Tree’s sponsors, would see that Hal received it.

As the blocks of wood were received, The American Tree began to take on a shape of its own. Hal assembled the various pieces into a patchwork fashion, carving and sanding them, in order to blend the seams into one another. This was done while he creatively shaped natural ridges and groves into the wood in order to form a continuous tree trunk.

The tree was to be built in three sections.

The first section is the base and first third of the superstructure, which is to be assembled outside of City Hall in Sacramento California. Once this part of the tree has been fabricated, the completed section will be put on the back of an Amtrak flatbed train and shipped off to Washington D.C. were Hal will begin work on the second section, the load bearing centerpiece.

This section is critical to the support of the sculpture. Metal anchor boots were driven into the base whose purpose it will be to link into the metal skeleton of the second and third sections of the tree. This is necessary of course due to the extreme weight of the tree’s trunk which otherwise would pulverize the base. After completion of the first and second sections, both will be strapped onto two flat bed trucks and transported to a site near the new World Trade Center. It is here were the final third of the tree, the

crown, is to be built. The crown’s design purpose is to support branches, which Hal will not be building. He has something different in mind. It is his intention to collect one branch from each state as a crowning contribution. Each will be the winner of a ‘State Branch Competition’ that will present it's design to The American Tree.

It is also in New York were the tree hopes to find a home when the atrium of the new World Trade Center is completed. However that will be 2 ½ years down the road. For now a lot of work must be completed and that's just the begining of this story.