That’s right: Some depraved reprobate(s) chopped down a 300-year-old natural wonder so they could hack part of it off, chainsaw it into a bear shape and hawk it to tourists on Hwy. 101.
This happened up in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park last month, and the nefarious deed has understandably unleashed the righteous wrath of local park rangers. In a press release issued today, a spokesperson for Redwood National and State Parks compared the crime to stealing part of the Statue of Liberty’s crown or defiling the gravestones at Gettysburg.
A $500 reward is being offered for info that helps nab these scumbags. Read the press release below.
Crescent City, CA — Sometime during the night and early morning of March 16th to March 17th, 2013, a large old-growth redwood tree was cut down illegally at Redwood National and State Parks in the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park unit.
Most Americans would be appalled to learn that a part of their national or state heritage had been stolen, whether a piece of the Statue of Liberty’s crown, gravestones from Gettysburg Battlefield, or a painting from a California mission. Yet this very thing is happening right in our backyard.
The destroyed tree was approximately 300 years old and healthy before it was cut — destined to live 2,000 years. It appears that the tree was cut down in order to get to a large burl which was 50 feet up in the tree. Once the tree was down, the burl was cut off and hauled away.
Like the Statue of Liberty and Gettysburg Battlefield, the redwood forest is a national and state park belonging to all the people of the United States and California. Each time a piece of the park is stolen — whether a burl, a tree, or an archeological artifact — the thieves are stealing directly from the people of the United States and from our national legacy to the future.
Of the approximately 2.5 million acres of old-growth redwood forest that existed in the last few centuries, only four percent remains, half of which is in Redwood National and State Parks. The remaining forest is cherished by people around the world. In fact, Redwood National and State Parks were designated a World Heritage site in 1982. Not only is damaging and stealing any part of this heritage taking from our future generations, it is a criminal offense punishable by fine and incarceration.
Anyone having information regarding this crime please contact Ranger Danielle Westberg at 707-465-7345. A reward of $500 is offered for information which directly leads to the arrest of the offenders.
This article appears in On the Lake.
I was born in these redwoods and played among them, dancing on the soft ground they made with their sweet smelling red-brown bark. These trees are sacred to me and I am sick of learning that this beautiful 300 year old beauty was struck down in it’s infancy. May the killers be found and prosecuted and placed in a cell with photos of beautiful redwoods that they can’t hurt for many many years ~ Please DO NOT buy chained-sawed statues anywhere!
CUTUM DOWN AND BEAT THE HIPPIES, THAT’S WHAT I SAY.
i’ve been a timber faller in the redwoods for 38 yrs now-thats no old growth tree n its not 300 yrs old. but it is still a theft and a meth head type of crime-find em n throw em in jail
How can you call these people A-holes?
They’re god-fearin’ burl-mericans!
What are you basing that assertion on Patrick Cherry? Do you have a Society of American Foresters accredited degree in forestry or did you go straight to timber falling after completing a rigorous academic program at South Fork High School? The term old-growth is generally accepted throughout the scientific community as only applying to forests, woodlands, and ecosystems for example and not to single trees. But the various definitions for old-growth forests vary greatly depending on many factors. What did you look at in either of the two low resolution images to use for scale? Do the small pics show that the forest this tree was in is not in a stage that follows the understory re-initiation stage? Or could you just not count 300 rings in the top picture? Hahaha
Coincidentally, it could take 300 years for native vegetation and wildlife to thrive again following the previous 100 years of cumulative impacts by industrial logging and residential developments, if we immediately adopt regulations based upon science.
(If other riparian areas in California, and this world, are any indication).
Paraphrasing:
“This is like stealing part of the Statue of Liberty’s crown or defiling graves at Gettysburg. We’re going to offer a reward. Yes, and it will be for (dramatic pause) five (dramatic pause) HUNDRED dollars.”
Right.
This is just terrible. The national parks are for everyone to enjoy. The timber companies have strict policies that govern their cutting, which involve planting for sustainability. This act of illegal cutting is one of disrespect towards nature, people, and business.
If these people are caught, I hope they are sentenced to aid the Forestry Service in maintaining this forest for at least a year.
See a hippy, give it gas and hit them. Damn sht heads.
Since when did 300 years become old growth?
This is just one of numerous incidents in Prairie Creek SP over the past several years. A number of trees have been badly damaged because huge cuts were made in them to get burls and trees were cut down. It always happens at night and all terrain type vehicles are used to get in and out of the park. At one point they were going to try closing the parkway at night but I don’t know if they ever were able to do that. My guess is the culprits are no farther away than Orick. Burls are worth a lot of money.