Could the new king of the trees be in your neighborhood?

The king is dead. Long live the king!

Now all we have to do is find it.

The "king" in question is the nation's largest cottonwood tree, which once stood near Seward.

The Nebraska Forest Service didn't say how many summers the cottonwood had survived, but this was the last one.

"I went to look at it, and it was laid out in two," said Chip Murrow, community forester assistant in the Nebraska Forest Service. Officials think strong winds or lighting meant the last ring for Susan and Daryl Hackbart's cottonwood, which measured 36.75 feet in circumference, 85 feet high and 107 feet in crown spread.

A look at the service's Web site shows no Southwest Nebraska trees on the champion tree register, but another link on the site, Nebraska Heritage Trees for 2007, shows a number of trees in our area with intriguing histories.

The include the native oaks in Oak Canyon at Trenton, dating back 200-300 years; the G Trees owned by Melva Gohl of Hayes Center, planted in the form of a giant "G" in 1983, resulting in a landmark for pilots; the Prairie States Shelterbelt in McCook, planted in 1935 to counter the drought during the Great Depression; and the Rennecker Oak at Beaver City, planted after Caroline Rennecker's husband, Herman Rennecker, allowed her to plant 10 oak saplings to help her feel at home after moving to Nebraska from Illinois.

"With Nebraska being the home of Arbor Day, trees are a part of our history," Murrow said. "Having champion trees raises awareness that Nebraska does have some significant and neat trees. Trees can grow in this prairie state and are significant resources."

We can think of several trees right here in McCook that bear nomination, and Murrow agrees that they can be anywhere.

"I've run into second- and third-place-sized trees just out traveling," he said. "And the trees don't have to be in the woods. They can be in towns and cities, too."

Nebraskans who think they have a large tree on their property or in their community can go out, take some simple measurements and send in a form. The nomination form is available at the Nebraska Champion and Heritage Tree Program Web site at http://www.nfs.unl.edu/championher itagetreeprogram.asp#champion.

You can also nominate your tree with an interesting history for the Nebraska Heritage Tree Program.

Who knows? Maybe the King of the Cottonwoods is right here in Southwest Nebraska.