“This tree here is about 12 feet bigger around than Canada’s biggest eastern cottonwood tree, so to me that means we have the largest eastern cottonwood tree on earth,” Alan Bartels said.

Pibel Lake Recreation Area is home to the Lower Loup Natural Resource District, geese and as of February 2025, the largest known cottonwood tree in Wheeler County.

Sierra Leone has been dealt a “great loss,” the country’s leader said Thursday, after its Cotton Tree, which served as a symbol of national freedom, was brought down.