Big Douglas-fir veterans behind new development on Phillips Road, Sooke, BC |
Grant must have been pleased with the trees on his new property. It would have been a sight unparalleled anywhere in the world - 300-400 foot Douglas-fir ancients approaching 1000 years old were probably fairly common in the area.
New houses - old trees |
Amazingly, some of the ancient giants still stand in the ex-logging town of Sooke. After 163 years of near-total transformation, the remaining big tree survivors face a different threat today - booming residential development, and a lack of a tree protection bylaw.
Other municipalities in the region have given a nod to the historical importance of trees by instituting bylaws to protect heritage trees, and other trees of significance. The largest two trees shown in the photos above would most certainly be covered by such legislation.
Awesome post! That's a huge old snag tree in the middle. It looks like it's several feet thick at the break, about 150 feet up. Probably a 300 footer once.
ReplyDeleteI was recently up near Lake Quinault, WA. last month exploring the forest, going along highway 101. Definitely some 300 foot fir trees still exist up in the north sector of Washington State. The thing that really pissed me off was seeing all the signs in people's front yards, which said VOTE NO on expanding the Olympic forest.
cheers
Hey Micah,
DeleteExpanding the Olympic forest? Sounds like a no-brainer to me. Are the 300 footers safe from exploitation? It sure would be nice to protect all of these remaining old trees.