Big trees are miracles of nature, and should be protected and preserved as such.
In the past we cut gigantic, century (or eons) old trees, sometimes for firewood. We didn't know as much back then as we know now, but how could a person even back then not have reverence for such a tree upon meeting it for the first time?
Who among us, upon seeing one of these incredible beings for the first time, would think, "I want to cut that down"? Even back then it seems odd to a tree enthusiast like myself.
One would think that such miracles of nature would instead be celebrated, honoured, revered, protected and preserved for the miracles that they are.
Some people and cultures had that approach back then, and still do. In the west we don't (with "we" being non-indigenous residents), or at least we don't enough to stop their destruction once and for all.
We continue to fell the largest ancients that remain.
Some is still used for firewood, while old growth fibre ends up supplying ass wipe to the pandemically panicked.
Who among us today, with what we know about our depleted forests globally, thinks that razing the little old growth that is left benefits people and the planet?
The big trees that are left, wherever they exist on Earth, deserve to be protected and preserved in perpetuity.
Isn't that what most of us (that don't profit from their destruction) really want?
Big Trees Matter.
What a wonderful old b&w image of that giant Douglas fir, that unfortunately was not saved from the saw! Your Red Creek Fir doesn't come close to its size! In 1938 my forester father discovered and saved from logging the "Clatsop Fir" (15.5 ft. dbh, 200 ft. to broken top) not far from Seaside, Oregon (it fell in a 1962 storm). Ever since he took my brother and me there in about 1952, we've been avid "big tree seekers"and forest conservationists!
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