Posted on 10/29/2011 12:26:50 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
The giant sequoia lies across the popular Trail of 100 Giants at Sequoia National Forest, Calif. No one was hurt when it fell. (Sequoia National Forest / September 30, 2011)
Along the Sierra Nevada's famed Trail of 100 Giants, the mammoth sequoia had stood sentry since King Arthur's knights gathered at the Round Table.
It witnessed the arrival of the first European settlers and the flurry of miners in search of gold. The onset of the Medieval Warm Period and the passing of the Little Ice Age. It stood, unperturbed, through the Great War and the one that followed.
Then a month ago, as a handful of amazed tourists looked on, it toppled crushing a bridge over a small stream and blocking the path.
Now, the U.S. Forest Service must decide what to do.
Slice a big hole in the 300-foot-long roadblock? Go around it? Over it? Under it?
When you're dealing with a 1,500-year-old sequoia in a national monument, the questions aren't just logistical. They're environmental, emotive and potentially legal.
Officials closed the popular tourist trail, cleared the debris and solicited ideas from the public on how to deal with the fallen giant actually two trees fused at the base.
Among the 30 or so suggestions: Reroute the trail. Tunnel under the trunks. Carve steps and build a bridge over them. Sell what would be one heck of a lot of firewood.
"This has not happened in the Sequoia National Forest before," said public affairs officer Denise Alonzo, explaining the indecision.........
In considering its options, the Forest Service wants to keep the paved path accessible to the disabled and make sure nothing is done to damage the root systems of surrounding trees, Alonzo said........
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Bwwwwaaaahhhahahahahaha...you’re on the wrong forum, tyrone!
Are you posting from your Corporate built Smart Phone whilst protesting Capialism at ows?
This came from the L.A. Times so I do not believe it actually happened.
Photoshopped.
The L.A. Times LIES.
Actually, I would put an arched tunnel through it, and repair the bridge over the stream that got crushed.
Why? Because it would be a fascinating tourist attraction.
Sure, you could cut it up for firewood, but why not leave it where it is? Even a giant tree doesn’t make that much firewood. And there are plenty of other forests in California that should be properly logged, for the health of the trees and to cut back on forest fires.
Never mind, they’ll probably take about 60 years deciding what to do, passing the buck around and suing each other.
How about a government grant to stand it back up. The standard grant these days to Obama contributors is $500 million, and that should do it.
This is just coming in...
They found a large copper screw about 5 feet up on the tree...
This was not a natural death...It was MURDER!!!!
They figure it was inserted about 7 years ago.
They need to commission several studies and hire a czar to figure it out.
Adding dirt over the roots around the base of a tree will kill it in just a couple of years.
I've seen it happen many times.
Not many things can live that long, and I think it is weird that being a conservative, it seems, is synonymous with being a jerk about living things other than humans.
Oh, good grief!
We are going to need the biggest chalk outline in history.
LOL! your comment beat me to it........
If so, it has better eyesight than a typical California Democrat, who thinks the world started with Cesar Chavez. :)
It’s a friggin tree!
The dirt in my yard is older that than that tree. The rock in the corner is older than the dirt.
Lets sing Kumbaya.
Actually, if they cut a slice out of the way of the path, they could make it an educational exhibit by placing pins in the rings at various times in history ...
Actually, he's spot on..........I'll let it go at that
Of course they are.
I agree.
This tree has been more useful for hundreds of years than most people are during their entire lives.
And no that doesn't mean I am an OWS hippie, or that I "am posting on the wrong forum". It means that without trees humans would be pretty bad off, and without humans trees would be better off.
Having a sense of awe and reverence for nature is a good thing.
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