In what could be a preview of where the wood products industry is heading, a researcher at The Ohio State University hopes to trace the provenance of a campus oak tree that may have been a gift from Hitler, according to National Public Radio.
In what could be a preview of where the wood products industry is heading, a researcher at The Ohio State University hopes to trace the provenance of a campus oak tree that may have been a gift from Hitler, according to National Public Radio.
In 1936, track star Jesse Owens made history winning four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics. In turn, the German Olympic Committee under the direction of Hitler's regime gave athletes an oak sapling for each gold medal they won. Owens returned home and planted one of his four oaks at Rhodes High School in Cleveland, where he trained, but the location-or existence-of the other three is under dispute.
Owens may have planted one of the trees near the library at OSU, where he attended college. It's been rumored for some time that Owens planted it, and an arborist has determined it is the same species, age and size as the oak at Rhodes High School, NPR reported. Now, forestry professor Davis Sydnor says he wants to compare DNA between the two trees to prove his theory that, in fact, all the Olympic seedlings came from the same one or two parent trees.
"If they are that closely related," Sydnor told NPR, "then DNA testing can come pretty close to saying it's from this group of trees."
DNA testing for trees is becoming more widespread and is even being used to combat illegal logging. German researchers are developing methods to use DNA isotopes that vary across continents, countries and climates in order to track timber chain-of-custody. For more on this research, look for "The Forester's Expanding Toolbox" in Hardwood Floors' upcoming August/September issue.