Marki in front of Hoh Rainforest Tree Fall - 2006
As my regular readers know, I spent part of my childhood running around in the wild hills of Northern California. I spent a lot of time exploring redwoods near my home. I even had one tree that my sister and I called a horse. The poor thing had to endure the both of us bouncing away on one of its lower limbs. I’m sure my mom, Marki on the right, was yelling at us all the time to leave the poor tree alone. Fortunately, we never broke the limb. And, come to think of it, the tree may have been a Calocedrus decurrens rather than a Sequoia sempervirens. At 8 yrs old I wasn’t taking notes.
In any case, the point is, I grew up around these big, old amazing trees. When I’d ride my pony around town, I’d see logging truck after logging truck filled with cut trees cruising to the mills. We had a belief that you could make a wish when you saw one of these trucks and it would come true. I wish I’d wished the trucks would disappear. Frankly, there were too many opportunities to wish on these trucks in the 70s. Fortunately, some of the groves are protected and in more recent years explorers have been seeking out remaining old groves and exploring the amazing worlds within them.
Robin & Shiloh on California Redwood - 2007
Since taking up a professional career working with people working with plants, I have continued to study trees. I’ve taken classes with some amazing certified arborists, ancient tree rescuers such as Dr. Olaf Ribeiro, and plain ole plant geeks like Arthur Lee Jacobsen. But, I’ve never sat for the ISA exams. I’ve definitely thought about it, but each time I’ve considered it, I realize I know so very little relative to the big picture. I have enormous respect for trees or more specifically for ancient trees. These suckers have been around for hundreds of years in many cases. So, I cower in awe when I encounter them, and as much as I advocate for them and continue to learn about them, I realize I’m nowhere near ready to take an exam that will certify me as knowledgable enough to become their designated caretakers. I leave that to others and respect them greatly for their work.
In my work truck I have a postcard from one of the shops along Hwy 101 in the Redwood forests along “The Avenue of the Giants”. The postcard has a cross-section photo of a large, old redwood that fell in 1987. The growth rings are intact and markers were inserted at various points indicating human history. At its center is a marker indicating when it began growing — 1148 A.D. The signing of the Magna Carta is another marker at 1215. I keep this postcard as a reminder that regardless of what happens in my day, in the big picture its probably pretty insignificant. What is significant is that I try to do the right thing like the 1919 marker for when the Save the Redwoods League was founded (unfortunately far too late to save most of the redwoods that had been growing for hundreds of years before clear cutting began.)
Robin in Front of Hoh Rainforest Ancient Tree - 2006
Recently, I picked up a copy of Richard Preston’s The Wild Trees. In this book he explores the people who explore big trees. He introduces us to the people who explore the ground, looking to find the world’s largest tree among the California Redwoods. He shares the stories of those who decided to climb and study the forests within the forests of these big trees (and other big trees around the world).
If you’re interested in learning more about big trees or if you are just looking for a good read that will keep you on the edge of your seat (or tree limb for that matter), definitely pick this book up. I couldn’t put it down. Now that I’ve finished it, I find myself looking up into canopies even more. Noticing the sway of trees and wondering if the Doug Firs declining in our area are actually going to withstand the tip dieback and send out new leaders, soaring to the heavens for years and years to come.
Oh, and yes, the book reinforced for me how little I know. It helped me learn more and reminded me of the one time I put on a tree saddle and did a bit of climbing — as curious as I am about the canopy its unlikely I’ll ever be a big climber. The 8-yr old tree monkey I was is no more. Of course, never say never…
