Redwoods

The magnificent redwood trees of California have always been debated over. Many people want to cut them down for their excellent wood while others scream at the thought of cutting down these thousands-of-years-old trees. Mike Fay, a Wildlife Conservation Society biologist, says that there is a way to keep forests healthy and still cut the trees down as a source of wood: "Grow bigger trees, which can maximize wood production while providing good habitat." Loggers, foresters, biologists, environmentalists, cafe owners, and timber company executives all rely on the redwood forests but they can't all agree on how they should be cut or not cut.
Redwoods are unique in several ways. First of all, their bark in high in polyphenols, which bugs and fungi do not like. Secondly, they do not contain a lot of resin in their bark, which makes them highly fire resistant. When a limb breaks off in a storm or is cut off by loggers and the stump is exposed to light, it almost immediatly begins to grow back. One would think that since these trees are so massive, they would have a larger cone for their seeds. Wrong. The redwood's cone is very small, about the size of an olive. Not only is it very small, the seeds are not always released periodically so they do not always grow every year. Because of this, stump sprouting has become the redwoods' main key to survival.
Many loggers cut down the trees because they need to money to support their families. Since before the early 1900's, people have been fighting the loggers and protesting against the cutting of redwood forests, with good reason. Less than 5 percent of what was 2 million acres of redwood forests remains, most of which are under protection by the law. Huge debates and arguments have broken out over the issue. Violence has even been used; a pipe bomb placed in someone's car, a logger aiming a tree at a protester: the tree fell on the protester's head and killed him instantly and the logger was not charged.
People are not the only ones who suffer from the loss of redwood trees. The northern spotted owls, marbled murrelets, as well as the coho salmon are quickly declining from habitat loss. With animals dying off, California reduced the number of acres cut per year per company by one half what it originally was in the 1990's. Large machines used to cut trees down and drag them out of the forests were also done away with and replaced with smaller, more effective machines. Because of this change, fewer habitats were being destroyed and a less sediment was being knocked into streams and salmon were able to thrive again.
A man by the name of Jim Able has the right idea for logging. He and his company go out and mark the trees they want to cut down. They are careful that they never cut down more than 30-35 percent of the forest. He says that it is best to cut less tress for more money, that way it is beneficial economically and environmentally. He and his employees always leave the healthy straight trees and cut down only the poor quality, malformed trees. By doing this, the stronger trees are left to continue growing and creating a healthy forest while the loggers are still able to get their timber.
I have seen these trees up close and personal and I can see how people might want to cut them down for timber. However, I can also see why people are fighting to prevent the cutting of these amazing forests. Redwood trees can live to be thousands of years old and that's amazing. Their height is something else that should noted. The tallest tree is 379.1 feet tall. That's like, 47 stories high. The thing I can't imagine though, is the violence that goes on while fighting for these trees. Pipe bombs and purposly making a tree fall on someone and killing them is way too far. It's like throwing a temper tantrum when you're 35. It's not mature and it isn't going to get you anywhere. I think Jim Able has the perfect idea. He saves the healthy trees and gets rid of the bad ones. That way, the trees are able to grow tall and strong and the loggers still get money for timber.

Mallory C.
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/10/redwoods/bourne-text