Archangel Ancient Tree Archive

05/15/2026

This week, 60+ Glen Lake Elementary students and teachers rolled up their sleeves to plant Champion Black Willows along the Boardman River in Traverse City. 🌿

Just last week, these same students attended Tree School at AATA headquarters in Copemish, where they learned how and why Black Willows are such a powerful phytoremediation species — helping absorb mercury and other toxins while restoring the health of local waterways.

But this project is about more than planting trees.

It’s about empowering the next generation with the knowledge, tools, and hands-on experience to care for the places they call home. When children understand the “why,” they become lifelong stewards of the Earth — and that is how real change begins.

This is who Archangel is:
🌲 Propagating the world’s most important trees
🌎 Restoring ecosystems
📚 Educating future leaders
🤝 Building community through action

Enjoy the photos — and imagine what could happen if projects like this took root everywhere.

Who’s in? 🌱

04/16/2026

This'll be an historic Earth Day! We're planting 100 copies of ancient Archangel Champion Trees in the Wolf Connection wolf sanctuary, north of Los Angeles, alongside our partners, Guerrilla Community Movement and Regenerative World Quest. Learn more!

On Earth Day, 100 young people from Watts and Antelope Valley will plant hundreds of seedlings cloned from some of the world's oldest trees on a 165-acre wolf sanctuary in Los Angeles.

04/14/2026

This Earth Day, we return something sacred to the land. 🌎🌲🐺

Archangel Ancient Tree Archive is planting Giant Sequoias and Coast Redwoods among rescued wolves and wild land, these trees will grow as living legacies—symbols of resilience, restoration, and our deep connection to the natural world.

We don’t just plant trees.
We plant the future.

Stay tuned as we bring the forest back, one tree at a time. 🌱✨

To be part of this restoration effort. Donate here: ⬇️

https://www.theriteofpassage.org

04/10/2026

NEXT STOP: LOS ANGELES 🌲✨

100 living giants are on the move!

From our nursery in Michigan to the hills of California, these Giant Sequoias and Coast Redwoods are beginning their journey to a very special place at Wolf Connection Sanctuary, where they will be planted this Earth Day as part of our growing legacy of restoration.

Each tree represents more than just a planting…
🌿 A future forest
🌎 A living climate solution
🐺 A deeper connection between land, wildlife, and people

These young trees carry the genetic memory of some of the largest and oldest beings on Earth and now, they’re heading to new ground where they can thrive for generations to come.

We’re honored to partner in this effort and continue expanding the reach of these ancient lineages.

L.A., here we come.

🌲

03/02/2026

Our David Milarch had an enlightening conversation with In The Garden With Ron Wilson, the popular iHeart Radio show, over the weekend. Click to listen and discover how the Archangel Ancient Tree Archive collects the genetics of the world's largest and oldest trees, and reforests to clean up our environment.

Ron Wilson of WKRC 44 in Cincinnati, Ohio, invited our David Milarch as a guest on his popular talk radio show, In the Garden, on February 28, 2026. They discuss the important work of Archangel Ancien

02/28/2026

Giant Sequoias in Michigan? You bet! Archangel captures the genetics of the world's largest, oldest, and perhaps most important trees. We clone those ancient genetics to protect and replant the species, which capture tons of pollutants from the atmosphere.

The Michigan Champion tree is the largest of its species east of the Rocky Mountains.

01/02/2026

✨New Year.

🌲New Tree.

🌎 Same Mission.

Happy New Year from all of us at Archangel Ancient Tree Archive — and from the trees themselves. This newly rooted tree represents more than a fresh start; it represents a future measured in centuries, even thousands of years. Here’s to fresh starts, deep roots, and another year of growing the future together.

11/07/2025

🌳 Honoring the State Champion Leland Cottonwood

Fourteen years ago today, the legendary Leland Cottonwood was taken down after standing watch over Fishtown for more than a century.

Before it fell, AATA climb and collected material to preserve its genetics — and today, one of its living clones stands over 10 feet tall at just 2 years old. 🌱

The spirit of the Champion Cottonwood lives on — growing strong once again. 💚

09/10/2025

It was a thrill to be on NBC News this past weekend, and an honor to help kids plant Champion Giant Sequoias in Detroit. See the story at the first comment below.

09/08/2025

Inner city children planted a Sequoia forest in Motor City. Featured on NBC’s TODAY Show, Archangel Ancient Tree Archive and Arboretum Detroit made Detroit a global symbol of resilience, renewal, and hope for the planet.