Thanks to the employees of 3M Česko, a seedling from the ancient tree recently made its way to European soil. In celebration of the company\'s 10th anniversary in the Czech Republic, the staff took it upon themselves to personally fund an exceptionally unique and enduring gift for the community. They found willing partners in David and Jared Milarch, third- and fourth-generation tree farmers and founders of the nonprofit Champion Tree Project. The father-and-son team defied years of scientific dogma and shocked experts when they succeeded in cloning various species of the largest and oldest trees in 1996. Determined to restore the dwindling number of old-growth forests and put the superior genes of these trees back into the ecosystem, they have been gathering the genetic material of these \"champions\" ever since, cloning them and planting them in suburban and urban areas.

The grandest champ of them all, Methuselah, is shrouded in mystery. Its precise location in the canyons of California is kept top secret. Because the U.S. Forest Service fears that visitors could do harm, Jared had to obtain special permission in 2002 to collect cuttings and pine cones. Although their effort to clone the cuttings proved unsuccessful, a number of seeds were viable and produced 10 new bristlecones. With this relatively small number of offspring of the natural giant in existence, it\'s no surprise that it took 3M employees six months of drive and jumping through bureaucratic hoops to get the specimen out of the United States.

With the profound Czech love of nature in mind, they took up a collection themselves to bring the national treasure to Europe. \"It was the idea that our children\'s children will see the tree still growing in the future,\" says Jan Kočárek, spokesman for the project. \"When we told David the employees would be paying, he was very surprised. That\'s why we chose these gardens — it is not commercial, it is educational.\" The similarity between conditions in Bohemia and the White Mountains also make this a perfect match for Methuselah. 3M Česko corporate, impressed by the group\'s initiative, decided in the end to cover the remainder of the costs to procure the seedling.

One reason for Methuselah\'s incredible life span is its ability self-pollinate and its capacity to retain needles for up to 40 years. As a result, fewer nutrients are required for growth. Additionally, the tree\'s living tissue is a small strip and grows extremely slowly, allowing it to survive long periods on very little. Methuselah\'s DNA could potentially serve as a guidepost for capturing the secret of longevity in other living things, multiplying the benefits of this cultural gift. For the first time, European scientists will be able to delve first-hand into the last genetic links to age-old forests and apply their findings to their own studies on the Continent.

Once the specimen left the United States, David Milarch spent six stress-filled days carrying around his priceless charge in Prague. He was finally able to bestow the invaluable seedling to Václav Větvička, director of the Charles University Faculty of Science\'s Botanical Garden at a Sept. 5 planting ceremony. In addition to Dean Pavel Kováfi and 3M Česko Managing Director Claude Richard, Větvička\'s staff and Prague 2 Mayor Michal Basch were also in attendance.

\"Champion Tree Project would like to build a European model of how to restore, hands-on, a sustainable watershed system,\" says Milarch. \"That\'s how we go about reversing the degradation of the past 100 years.\" With the intent of planting the strongest and healthiest trees that can most efficiently filter out mercury and other heavy metals from water, he sees Prague as the ideal place to begin restoration efforts across the Atlantic. \"The people of this country are agrarian in their history, and they still are. They leave town every weekend to garden,\" notes Milarch.

\"If you\'re going to build a model with the concerted effort of the people of the country, you want to go to place where they have a reverence for living things.\"

To many, the mighty Methuselah is a symbol of sustainability and the idea that there is still a chance to fix the environment for future generations. More than 125 species have been cloned so far, and the arboreal propagators of Champion Tree Project say the amassing of a living genetic library is within reach if people act now. \"We recognize the problems as well as we can. Our focus is on the solutions,\" explains Milarch. \"We can begin now, today, to help reverse things like global warming.\" Considered a visionary by most people that meet him, Milarch\'s vision is of a day when scores of cloned champion trees are planted alongside the world\'s rivers. With the capacity to reduce greenhouse gases, stormwater runoff and the harmful effects from the sun\'s ultraviolet rays, these trees give hope and inspiration to those resigned to an environment in perpetual decline.