by Jan Chaffin

• Disclaimer: The views expressed are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employers.

Chapter Seventeen – Trees Are Dying

Imagine a landscape of coastal wetlands and cascading rivers ringed by mountains of dense redwood forests filled with a teeming abundance of flourishing plants and animals.

The year is 1750. The place is Santa Cruz California. Native cultures have been living here for at least 11,000 years, burning the grasslands to provide food sources and carving canoes out of redwood trees for fishing and trading. There are over two million acres of pristine old growth redwood forest along the coast that ten thousand natives call home. Out of the 10-100 million species of life on earth, over 50% live in these redwood canopies.

By 1950, Europeans have settled throughout the area, deforested over 96% of all redwoods and destroyed almost 100% of the native population. If the Save the Redwoods League hadn’t purchased 170,000 acres of redwood forest in 1917, there would be no old trees left here.

Guess where that movement started? Right here in Henry Cowell Park! These grand old trees survived a couple thousand years of natural disasters but nearly succumbed to a couple centuries of unchecked greed. We are fortunate to live among these few remaining ancient giants and we are still learning the many secrets hidden within them.

Since working at Henry Cowell, I’ve been reading a bit about local natural history. Particularly inspiring sources are Malcolm Margolin’s classic The Ohlone Way and Richard Preston’s The Wild Trees. Both are great reads as well as great sources of information about the general area. Whenever asked, I share what I’ve learned with park visitors. When park visitors share something they’ve learned with us, it’s even more rewarding.

Last week, that’s exactly what happened. During a lull in the nearly constant flow of arriving campers, I was enjoying the camaraderie of my workmates. We were laughing about something and briefly distracted. When we looked over to the walkup window, we noticed a drawing on the ledge. We hadn’t heard or seen anyone walk up so we wondered who had left it. The mystery was solved when we turned it over and saw a young camper had signed her name. The subject was about loving our earth and she had shaped the planet into a heart.

We were delighted by the stealthy gift and promptly hung it on the wall for all to see. A few minutes later, a young girl walks up and hands us another drawing. It is a lovely colored pencil sketch of a redwood beside the slogan “Save Our Trees”. She quietly tells us her younger sister made the other drawing. We thank her and ask if she wants a sticker. She thanks us, says she wants nothing in return. The new art piece is added to the first.

Yesterday, I arrived for my shift exhausted and expecting a busy, taxing day ahead. I looked up and saw that a third child’s drawing had been added to our “art wall” and I couldn’t help smiling and appreciating the chance to work in such a special place.

http://gravesitestories.com/my-state-park-summer-pt-9/