This is an essay i found in my Biology book that struck me. It tells you what happens when you dont take action right away. It was 390 feet tall. Nothing on earth could match it. It had stood as a slender sapling in the cool coastal air, perhaps moving slightly in a light breeze, on the very day Caesar finally decided to move against Britain.But all that happened a long way from the area that would be called California.Great leaders were born as the tree grew. And they died as the tree became stronger and taller. Wars came and went, as well as plagues and famine.There were great celebrations and deep mournings here and there over the earth. The tree lived through it all. As the ages passed, the tree continued to grow. No one marked the time when its crown reached above all the others, because it was only one of a vast forest of such trees. In time however, it was noticed. Even before the start of the twentieth century, the straight,tall, and insect-resistent trees had caught the eyes of lumber companies. As the population of California grew, the trees began to be cut. Some citizens tried to establish a national park to save some of them, but inthe lumber industry blocked it in congress. In what has been called "one of the greatest swindles of all time," they arranged to change nearly all the redwoods land from public to private ownership. After WW2, California experienced a population surge of unprecedented dimensions. Factories and homes were being built feverishly and lumber was needed.Redwood was ideal for lawn furniture and tomato stakes too. The conservationists, led by the Sierra Club, pushed again for parks to be set aside. By 1960, there were only two areas left that were relatively unscarred and of park caliber.While conservationists dickered among themselves over which area was the best, the lumber industry was busy in Sacramento and Washington. They effectively muddied the waters by cynically proposing a number of other sites. The easily confused public became confused. The lumber industry was confident. One official boasted that it takes five years to get a national park bill through Congress and in five years there wouldnt be anything worth fighting for. As the arguments continued, the trees kept falling. Then in the summer of 1965 the 390-foot giant was discovered-by the lumber companies. They brought in their chain sawa. They worked quickly and the great tree was felled, cut into twenty-foot lengths, an hauled away. In fact evey tree in the redwood stand at he junction of Bond and Redwood creeks was brought down-right in the very heart of the Sierra Club's proposed park site. The crash of the great giant was drowned out by the cheerful ring of the cash register.
oh take me out to the redwoods take me out to the woods buy me a tent and a sleeping bag I don't care if we ever go back stuck my head in a little skunks hole the little skunk said"why bless my soul take it out take it out remove it Campfire meetings under the redwoods.
I love the redwoods. When I lived in Oregon, I would go to the coast, and a stop in one of the few remaining stands of old growth trees was mandatory. Just to walk through the giants..... But, it's a small park with paved roads and little fences to keep the thousands of visiters from walking on and killing everything that is less than 2 feet tall. Most of the giant redwoods are gone. We are lucky to have even a few in parks with fences around them. The giant will return though. Small redwoods grow slowly. The return of the giants to large stands will take at least 500 years, But they will return.
That is so depressing, it reminds me of when I did a research paper on the rainforest, and they have enormous trees in the rain forest, and there was one quote that has stuck with me for a long time "it takes 500 years to grow, and only 20 minutes to cut down" (I believe it was 500 years) but that quote has haunted me, and when you read things like that, I find, you become way more passionate about helping
