The Tree That Owns Itself

Athens, GA is best known as the home of the University of Georgia and the birthplace of musical legends, R.E.M. and The B-52s. However, did you know that at the corner of South Finley and Dearing Streets you will find a massive, white oak, known as “The Jackson Tree?” The fact that this tree still exists at the edge of a bustling downtown in a growing college town is in itself pretty impressive. What’s more impressive is why it is still standing.

Colonel William H. Jackson, a professor at the University of Georgia, owned the land that the tree sits upon. The Colonel loved sitting underneath the tree, relishing in the shade it provided, surely a relief from the extreme Georgia heat. He loved the tree so much in fact, that he wanted to ensure that it was never cut down or destroyed by man. In 1832, he deeded the tree to itself, along with the 8 feet of land surrounding the oak.

The official deed states:

I, W. H. Jackson, of the county of Clarke, of the one part, and the oak tree … of the county of Clarke, of the other part: Witnesseth, That the said W. H. Jackson for and in consideration of the great affection which he bears said tree, and his great desire to see it protected has conveyed, and by these presents do convey unto the said oak tree entire possession of itself and of all land within eight feet [2.4 m] of it on all sides.

The earliest known version of the story is from an article from August 12, 1890, in the Athens Weekly Banner entitled “Deeded to Itself”.

Unfortunately in 1942, the original tree was blown over during a storm. It had become too old and weak to survive the destructive weather that is common in the South. To preserve the wishes of Colonel Jackson, the citizens of Athens planted one of the tree’s seedlings in the same spot. Amazingly, it has grown to be over 70 tall, and has become known as the “Son of the Tree that Owns Itself.”

The Junior Ladies Garden Club of Athens continues to maintain and manage the preservation of the tree, deemed “Athen’s Most Famous Landmark”. In fact, Stewards of the Tree is a significant part of the Junior Ladies’ Garden Club and is its oldest continuous project.

The Tree’s Famous Plaque

The inscription on the plaque reads:

FOR AND IN CONSIDERATION

OF THE GREAT LOVE I BEAR

THIS TREE AND THE GREAT DESIRE

I HAVE FOR ITS PROTECTION

FOR ALL TIME, I CONVEY ENTIRE

POSSESSION OF ITSELF AND

ALL LAND WITHIN EIGHT FEET

OF THE TREE ON ALL SIDES

- WILLIAM H. JACKSON (c. 1832)

Is This Really legal?

Even though a tree legally cannot own property, the City of Athens does approve of the tree’s “rights”. Maybe one day, The Jackson Tree will have actual legal standing. Other places in the world are working on legal conditions for Mother Nature’s creations.

In 2008, Ecuador became the first country to recognize “The Rights of Nature” in its constitution. Two years later, Bolivia passed a bill that recognized the “Rights of Mother Earth” and hosted a conference on climate change where the Universal Declaration on the Rights of Mother Earth was issued.

In New Zealand, the Te Urewere Act provided legal rights to a natural park, allowing it to become its own legal entity. The Whanganui River, also in New Zealand received similar legal status in 2017.

There are organizations such as the Nonhuman Rights Project that hope “ To change the common law status of great apes, elephants, dolphins, and whales from mere ‘things,’ which lack the capacity to possess any legal right, to ‘legal persons,’ who possess such fundamental rights as bodily liberty and bodily integrity.”

It is through their work and the work of organizations like them who believe that humankind needs to change its relationship with the natural world. They urge us to no longer view nature as something separate from ourselves, as we are inherently dependent upon it.

***Note: This story was originally published by the author on Medium.com***