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Giant sequoia falls, raising questions about what to do next
Los Angeles Times ^ | October 29, 2011 | Bettina Boxall

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 ...


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: environment; perry2012; trees
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1 posted on 10/29/2011 12:26:53 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
Here's a idea for them...

CUT THE F*&KING THING UP!!!

Man, we have become a country of absolute idiots!!

2 posted on 10/29/2011 12:28:28 PM PDT by Fedupwithit ("Live free or Die: Death is not the worst of evils" - Gen. John Stark)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

How about sell it for lumber and send the proceeds to the treasury.


3 posted on 10/29/2011 12:29:00 PM PDT by DManA
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To: Fedupwithit

Actually, you sound like the idiot.


4 posted on 10/29/2011 12:30:20 PM PDT by Huck (TAX TEA NOW==SUPPORT 9-9-9!)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

I say, bore a big ol’hole in it and make it a natural bridge/tunnel that people can just stroll through.


5 posted on 10/29/2011 12:30:20 PM PDT by gimme1ibertee ("Criticism......brings attention to an unhealthy state of things"-Winston Churchill)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

I didn’t hear a thing.


6 posted on 10/29/2011 12:30:57 PM PDT by I cannot think of a name
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

It’s dead, Jim!


7 posted on 10/29/2011 12:32:16 PM PDT by fanfan (This is not my Father's Canada.)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Make some steps, a tunnel, some nice planks and burn the rest in the wood stove.


8 posted on 10/29/2011 12:32:31 PM PDT by jwalsh07 (t)
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To: DManA

This is California.. why, oh why, do I get the idea that some idiot will actually want to have a public funeral? The death of a tree.. boo hoo hoo.


9 posted on 10/29/2011 12:32:34 PM PDT by momtothree
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To: I cannot think of a name

Yes, but you are still wrong...


10 posted on 10/29/2011 12:33:13 PM PDT by null and void (MSGT Dean Hopkins USMC (ret) WWII-Korea-Vietnam 11/9/1925-10/22/2011 My hero, my Dad)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
Take lateral slices and analyze for climate change and carbon content over the course of the ages.

And check to see if King Arthur and the Knights get a decent burial, since this tree witnessed their lives.

Oh, and change that sign from "100 Giants" to "99 Giants", pronto.

11 posted on 10/29/2011 12:33:15 PM PDT by Zuben Elgenubi
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To: gimme1ibertee

That way people can stop and count the rings.


12 posted on 10/29/2011 12:33:18 PM PDT by 2111USMC (Not a hard man to track. Leaves dead men wherever he goes.)
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To: DManA

Make some REAL money by selling to the public one inch square pieces sealed in Lucite. The liberal weinies especially the greens will pay plenty. All money goes t the trsury for debt reduction.


13 posted on 10/29/2011 12:34:14 PM PDT by 101voodoo
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
They would call this "lumber" in a rational world.
14 posted on 10/29/2011 12:34:23 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum ("Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them." --Ronald Reagan)
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To: Fedupwithit
The giant sequoia lies across the popular Trail of 100 Giants at Sequoia National Forest, Calif.

Let's form a drum circle, hold hands, and weep for Mother Gaia's lost child.

15 posted on 10/29/2011 12:34:26 PM PDT by PGR88 (I'm so open-minded my brains fell out)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

BTW, how do you cut and split a 17 foot diameter tree?


16 posted on 10/29/2011 12:35:53 PM PDT by jwalsh07 (t)
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To: Fedupwithit

...and use the wood to make a table and chairs and sell it for a million dollars.


17 posted on 10/29/2011 12:35:58 PM PDT by donna (Americans now owe more on student loans than on credit cards.)
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To: Fedupwithit

Only the federal govt could dither and wring their hands over a dead tree.


18 posted on 10/29/2011 12:36:33 PM PDT by Scotsman will be Free (11C - Indirect fire, infantry - High angle hell - We will bring you, FIRE)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
It witnessed?

It didn't witness anything,it's a tree.

19 posted on 10/29/2011 12:37:03 PM PDT by mdittmar (i)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Cut it up but not just for lumber. Sell it online at auctions and in tourist shops as a piece of natural history. Proceeds go to reducing our debt.
Some pieces could be made into furniture or other items and because of the historic value priced accordingly.


20 posted on 10/29/2011 12:37:55 PM PDT by prisoner6 (Right Wing Nuts bolt The Constitution together as the loose screws of the Left fall out!)
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