Air Date: Week of December 16, 2011

A huge fire scar on an old giant sequoia in Black Mountain grove. This gnarled old giant is still clinging to life after centuries of surviving forest fires.(Sequoia National Forest)

So what should they do with that fallen Sequoia? Host Bruce Gellerman hears some listener suggestions and the Forest Services’ answer.

Transcript

GELLERMAN: We have these updates and listener feedback from two stories we recently aired. When one of the huge trees in the Sequoia National Forest in California fell, blocking a path, we asked: What should they do with the lumbering giant? Mary Jo Graham listens on WBFO in Buffalo and wrote: “Let it decompose and provide food and shelter to other species.”

“Drill a tunnel through the trunk,” was a favorite suggestion. And Bill Polkinghorn, who listens to our podcast in Maryland, had this idea:

POLKINGHOR: Cut the tree to produce large round tables. Use one of the tables at the visitor center so that visitors could count the rings. Auction off the other tables to the highest bidders, such as law firms, corporations or convention centers. Use the proceeds from the sale to support the Park Service.

GELLERMAN: Well - it's the Forest Service that made the call, and it has decided to just leave the sequoia where it fell, and build a boardwalk around it. And - we got an earful from listeners who cried foul when it came to our judge's choice for a jingle for the fish: Asian carp…rebranded as silverfin. The final selection didn't mention silverfin… mea carpa! You can hear all the jingles at our website - LOE dot ORG. And keep the feeding frenzy coming. At our website you'll also find our new survey about our show. Let us have it.

 

Links

Listen to the original story, “A Tree Fall in the Forest.”