This tree was reportedly the largest tree in Washington State (Photo taken in 1906 from "This Was Logging" by R. Andrews, 1954)

You have to work really hard to cut a tree this size down. Of course it is only fair that it should take many hours to destroy something that has taken a thousand years to grow.

It is so painful sometimes to realize that virtually our entire Western culture is built on the principle that humans were put here to dominate nature. How we view our forests provides some insight into this troubling mindset.

There has been much controversy over the importance of big trees. Lumber companies salivate at the sight of them. People will strap themselves to the ancient giants to prevent them from being cut down. What is going on? What's all the fuss?

California Coast Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) are the world's tallest known trees and among the oldest. These giants last for hundreds of years partly because their wood has a natural resistance to fungus, disease, and insect damage because of its high tannin content. Their thick, fibrous bark has even more tannin than the wood and helps the trees resist fires. These redwoods can live more than two thousand years.

Imagine a tree that has lived long enough to have been around when Stonehenge was being built, when the sundial was invented, when Plato taught students - a tree that has seen humans on our journey from the times of wandering tribes to our travels to the other planets.

Path in the Ho Rainforest in Olympic National Park, Washington State (photo (c) Jackie Giuliano, 1998)

Few remaining forests on Earth are "old growth," that is, they contain the original ecosystem and all of its diversity. Most people who have seen forests, even dense ones, are probably looking at second or third growth. Most of our lands have been cleared or logged one or twice in their history.

When you are in an old growth forest, you can feel it. The colors are deep, deep green, the growth is dense, there is an amazing diversity of plants, and there are fallen trees everywhere, many with other trees growing out of them. Everything feels alive, intense.

Attempting to justify why we should preserve old-growth forests is difficult and represents the classic dilemma in environmental management. By Western conventions of economic health, they are a resource that is here now that can be sold and a profit that can be made. By these rules, as long as you have a buyer, it is OK to harvest a resource.

This ethic has operated for over 2,000 years. During that time, resources appeared to be unlimited. The supply of trees, minerals, and wildlife seemed inexhaustible.

In ecological history, this belief is referred to as the Myth of Superabundance. It never really was true, but to resource-starved immigrants from England to the world they called New, the resources seemed endless.

Humans have placed ourselves (erroneously) at the top of the food chain, and from this lofty position, nothing is safe from our grasp.

Photo (c) Jackie Giuliano, 1998

Old-growth forests are a unique kind of ecosystem. The diversity of life they contain is unparalleled. One of the most important aspects of them may be the fallen trees they contain. From these come complex nutrients for new soil, a birthplace for new trees, and homes for many species.

We devalue such objects and call them "dead" and "fallen" and "litter" and "clutter," thereby further separating ourselves from the cycles of life. Without these deaths, there can be no life.

Seventy-six countries have already lost all their old growth forests. The U.S. has already lost 96 percent.

5,000 people rally in Humbolt, California in September 1997 to save the Headwaters Forest (From Rainforest Action Network website)