Surely others feel the wonderful bond we humans have to nature, and can understand the integral part they play in Life on this beautiful planet Earth? We are conscious stewards who must remember to walk softly, with a great respect for these sacred lands. Because truly, all places on this planet are sacred, and we can each make a difference when it comes to preserving the pristine wild places. Please take a few precious moments to offer your support in caring for the land which provides for all of our needs. The following letter is the latest news from Oregon Wild. I give grateful thanks for your time.

Oregon Wild Supporter,

Here’s a quick quiz for you:

The Malheur, Wallowa-Whitman, and Umatilla Nation Forests in northeast Oregon cover 5.3 million acres of land. In the new draft Forest Service plan that will chart the course for their future management, how many acres of Wilderness is the agency recommending?

a)    1,800,000 acres
b)    953,000 acres
c)    16,000 acres

Click here to find out the answer and make sure your voice is heard as the Forest Service continues to draft their new plan.

Collectively, these national forests make up the spectacular and diverse Blue Mountains where Ponderosa pine forests and sweeping vistas are home to elk, steelhead, and now wolves. Out here, the forests are more open and the chance of running into another person out in the backcountry is slim.

The opportunities for expanded Wilderness protection are vast.

With only 4% of the state of Oregon permanently safeguarded with the highest level of protection Congress can bestow on public land, we have a long way to go to make up our Wilderness deficit. Sadly, the Forest Service (even with new leadership in the Obama administration) doesn’t seem to understand how vital Wilderness protections are to Oregonians today and for future generations.

Click on the chart below to see the numbers and find out what the Forest Service is recommending for Wilderness protection in the Blue Mountains Forest Plan Revisions.

From Hell’s Canyon west to the headwaters of the John Day River, the national forests that make up the mighty Blue Mountains need your voice.

Write to the Forest Service today and urge them to protect the remaining wild places of northeast Oregon.

Thank you.

For the wild,
Erik Fernandez
Wilderness Coordinator
Oregon Wild

PS: The Forest Service doesn’t always move quickly. The Blue Mountains Forest Plan Revision has been years in the making. Throughout the process, Oregon Wild staff have been diligently monitoring the process, attending meetings, and now holding the Forest Service accountable for a lackluster plan. We couldn’t keep the Forest Service honest without the support of people like you. Please donate or become a member today to support our work protecting our remaining wild forests. Thanks.

1850 – California admitted as the 31st state of the United States of America. Initial settlement of Humboldt Bay and construction of a primitive sawmill.

1850s – The great San Antonio-Morage redwood forest of the East Bay hills with the largest coast redwoods was completely logged off and nearly eliminated.

1852 – The first legislative initiative to protect California’s trees. Assemblyman Henry A. Crabb’s resolution to ask Congress to preserve all redwood lands fails in California legislature.

1864 – Abraham Lincoln signed an Act to preserve the Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias by giving them to the State of California, and creating the first such park in the nation.

1872 – Nebraska “Tree Planting Day” which becomes Arbor Day, recognizing the importance of trees.

1875 – Centennial Tree, once claimed to be the largest tree in the world, is cut down by John McKiernan.

1886 – California legislator, Joe Russ, dies under indictment for Timber and Stone Act fraud. Tens of thousands of California timberland acres were illegally assembled into vast industrial timberlands through fraud and sometimes with foreign ownership.

1890 – Creation of Sequoia National Park, Yosemite National Park and General Grant National Park.

1890s – A.P. Hill displays photos of California old-growth redwoods in an effort to prevent their destruction.

1892 – The Sierra Club is founded by John Muir. Jesse Hoskins protects 90 acres of old-growth Giant Sequoias by homesteading and residing in the base of the Hercules Tree.

1891 – Congress passes the Forest Reserve Act empowering the President to create “forest reserves” (later known as national forests) where logging was totally banned to protect water.

1897 – Timber lobbyists slip in “Organic Act” budget rider, which opens Forest Reserves to logging, mining, and grazing.

1900 – While still Governor of New York, Theodore Roosevelt urged the Federal government to purchase of both North and South Groves of Calaveras Big Trees.

1901 – 1,437,260 Americans petitioned for the Federal purchase of Calaveras Big Trees, Congress failed to act.

1902 – Sempervirens Club successfully lobbies the California legislature to set aside the area of old- growth redwoods that became Big Basin Redwoods State Park.

1903 – William Kent borrows money to purchase Muir Woods to save this Marin County old growth from logging and a reservoir. Nero Tree was cut down by promoter John McKiernan at Mountain Home.

1905 – The Humboldt Chamber of Commerce, managed by George A. Kellogg of the Pacific Redwood Shingle Company, petitioned the state legislature to create a public redwood park “to be forever maintained in its primeval state.”

1906 – Theodore Roosevelt establishes the Monterey Forest Reserve.

1908 – President Roosevelt establishes Muir Woods National Monument of old-growth Redwoods on land donated to the Federal government for that purpose by future Congressman William Kent. 2,000 Eureka public school students petitioned Theodore Roosevelt and the USFS asking “that representative groves of these trees should be preserved for ourselves and future generations of children.”

1909 – Congress finally creates the Calaveras Bigtree National Forest, but fails to protect the South Grove.

1914 – Carson Woods proposed as a national redwood park by Congressmen Raker and Kent, supported by women’s’ clubs. Bill died in committee. Carson Woods were logged.

1918 – Save-the-Redwoods League is formed to preserve ancient forests that are quickly disappearing.

1924 – After its failed maneuvers to block park supporters, Pacific Lumber began clandestine logging on Dyerville Flat (Founders’ Grove) destroying the area for park purposes. Laura Mahan stood in the fall path of trees being cut while her husband alerted county officials and the press and took legal action.

1928 – California voters approved funds to establish a State Park System and allocated six million dollars in state park bond funds for acquisition of parklands.

1931 – J.D. Rockefeller Jr. and the Save-the-Redwoods League rescues the old growth of what became the Rockefeller Forest.

1954 – South Grove of Calaveras Big Trees, scheduled for logging, was finally purchased with public donations, including a $1 million donation from J.D. Rockefeller Jr., by the Save-the-Redwoods League after the Legislature repeatedly failed to act.

1955 and 1964 – Logging destroys the slopes above the Rockefeller Forest, which erode, and collapse, wiping out 800 old-growth trees previously believed preserved by donations.

1960 – Avenue of the Giants Parkway, a narrow sliver of old growth, dedicated in Humboldt Redwoods State Park after 40-year-long acquisition progress by the Save-the-Redwoods League.

1964 – Donald Rusk Currey cuts the oldest living tree on earth, a 5,000 year-old Bristlecone Pine.

1974 – Congressmen John and Phil Burton introduce a bill to enlarge Redwood National Park to 132,000 acresžthe bill fails.

1988 – FORESTS FOREVER is formed to create and promote the Forest and Wildlife Protection Initiative on the November 1990 ballot, which narrowly failed. Corporate industry spent over $16 million to defeat this citizen initiative.

1990 – Activists Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney are victims of a car bombing in Oakland.

1996 – 1033 people arrested in protest of cutting the ancient trees of Headwaters Forest.

1997 – October, Non-violent forest activists have pepper spray poured into their eyes. November, 8,000 people attend a rally to save Headwaters Forest in Stafford. December, Julia “Butterfly” Hill climbs up into the magnificent old redwood, Luna, for a two-year treesit.

1998 – March 15th Governor Gray Davis makes the promise that if elected governor he will ensure that “wetlands are preserved, rivers are clean, and all old-growth trees are spared from the lumberjack’s ax.”

1999 – Two of six groves in the 60,000 ac. Headwaters Forest are purchased with a buffer area totaling approximately 7400 acres. David “Gypsy” Chain is killed while trying to protect old growth sacrificed by the Headwaters deal.

2002 – Sue Moloney of the Campaign for Old Growth embarks on a 52 day “Fast for Old Growth.” John Quigley goes up into “Old Glory” to protect this old growth Oak from the saw. The battle to save the remaining old growth trees of California continues.

I would like to take this moment to direct those who feel as I do to a wonderful place which opened to the public on March 11th, 2008. Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center really impressed me with their history, as well as their current mission. Originally developed more than 60 years ago, through the vision of H.J Lutcher Stark, a prominent philanthropist who resided in Orange, Texas. Inspired by the mystical retreat represented in the book Lost Horizon, Stark sought to create his own haven of indescribable beauty where time would stand still. His vision became a reality in 1937 when he began creating Shangri-La Botanical Gardens within significant acreage owned by him along Adams Bayou in his hometown of Orange, Texas. Shangri La Gardens and Nature Center represents a place of enlightenment, peace and beauty.

Nestled within 252 acres in the heart of Orange, Texas, Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center is the first project in Texas and the 50th project in the world to earn the U.S. Green Building Council’s Platinum certification for LEED®-NC, which verifies the design and construction of Shangri La reached the highest green building and performance measures.

As one of the most earth-friendly projects in the world, Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center offers a glimpse of how people can live in harmony with nature. The combination of gardens and nature at Shangri La presents a serene oasis for retreat and renewal, as well as the opportunity to explore, discover and learn. I strongly encourage you to visit the Shangri La website to learn more about the wondrous history, the tragic events which caused this beautiful place to close down for 50 years, and the current mission of this magical place of nature. You will discover an ancient Pond Cyprus tree which is at least 1,200 years old, situated within Shangri La. Don’t miss this! I will be taking my daughter on a visit real soon, you can be most certain.

We lost a Great and Ancient tree to the machinations of modernization, just recently. My daughter and I have loved to walk a path through the trees near a river by our home. Along this path lived a beautiful Cottonwood tree, the largest I have ever seen, standing watch over all the smaller plants and trees nearby. Each time we passed this Ancient Spirit we would stop and touch it, giving a prayer of thanks for the air we breathe and the wonderful shade provided during hot days. Although we love all that is green and natural, this Ancient One held a special place in our hearts. It had been here for much longer than the ugliness of some places nearby, and brought a timeless beauty to this place.

Last week we were walking across the river from this favourite tree, and I stumbled when I looked to see this tree. I could not seem to catch my breath and tears came to my eyes. My daughter grew concerned and asked me what was wrong. When I could speak I pointed across the river with a heavy heart. Our dear and beautiful tree still stood, yet all of it’s branches had been cut off. This still-living tree was about to be cut down, for no reason that I could see. It was still healthy and strong! I felt the pain of this quite deeply, and was so sad!

We crossed the river the next day. I truly dreaded approaching the part of the path where this Great tree had lived for so long. It still stood, and I swear I could feel the pain of this poor tree as it stood, with all of its branches full of new life, lying in piles around it. My daughter was very sad as well and asked me why. Why had they done this to a tree in a place where nothing was to be built and the tree represented Life, and was no danger to folks walking? I do not know why… so I approached the tree and offered tobacco to the spirit of this Ancient One. I cried and prayed and asked forgiveness for man’s folly. We said goodbye to this wonderful tree that had given us such pleasure and comfort on our many walks. This place no longer brought me pleasure, and I am not certain we shall return. I prefer to stroll in the wild places that man has not touched.

Each day it is good to take time to honor Life, and all living things. We do not own this planet… we are just here for a little while. The Earth is Ancient, and generous in her gifts. It is only right to be thankful for what we have been blessed with, and to teach our children to be caring and thankful as well. This is part of the great Balance. So each day, let us promote Life by planting seeds, and nurturing our gardens and forests. Let us care for each other as well.

Here are a few helpful tips to get started…

Reduce – Reuse – Recycle; bring your reusable grocery totes. If you must buy disposables, buy paper products rather than plastic or Styrofoam. The manufacture of Styrofoam depletes the ozone layer.

Conserve water, waste not and fix leaks.

Use fewer harmful chemicals and pollutants, and dispose of them properly.

Try to use phosphate-free laundry and dish soaps.

Don’t use electrical appliances for things you can easily do by hand.

Save your kitchen scraps for the compost pile.

Boycott tuna or buy only “dolphin-safe”

Use Seafood Watch to choose seafood that’s good for you, and good for the oceans.

Volunteer your time to conservation projects.

Participate in stream and beach cleaning programs.

Become more involved in marine environmental issues.

Vote for candidates that share your sentiments.

Write your legislators when you have an opinion about pending legislation on environmental, land use and other issues.

Plant native, insect resistant, trees and shrubs in your backyard to provide food and shelter for birds and other creatures.

Pull weeds instead of using herbicides.. Learn about natural insect controls as alternatives to pesticides.

Use public transit.. Ride your bike or walk instead.. Drive a more gas efficient car.

Celtic Tree & Flower Medicine -

BIRCH – this tree is indicative of cleanliness & determination in
overcoming adversity. Use when wanting to make a fresh start &
ridding yourself of bad influences

ALDER – is a water-loving tree, the God linked with this tree is Bran
the blessed, is for spiritual protection & prophecy.

WILLOW – medicine stands for female & lunar rhythms of life. She is
water-seeking like the alder. Offers protection against damp diseases
&modern herbal Practioners extract salicin from the bark to be used
to ease illnesses like rheumatic fever. The gift of fertility is also
represented here.

ASH – The World Tree, it has deep penetrating roots which change the
chemistry of the soil, making undergrowth difficult for other
vegetation. Helps link the earthly and spiritual. Good medicine for
meditation.

HAWTHORN – Small tree with dense, many-branched body. Best used for
cleansing & chastity, bringing protection from the inner magical
realms.

OAK – The Oak’s place in Celtic lunar calendar is seventh among
thirteen months. The Oak has protected England through the use of his
timbers for the building of ships. Oaks are used as boundary marker.
Oak medicine is best used for securing your pursuits, protecting
while attaining your goals. It is essential protection for those less
able, who require security in order to strengthen their characters.

HOLLY – a white-wooded tree with almost invisible grain, looks much
like ivory. Holly is associated with the death and rebirth symbolism
in both Pagan & Christian lore. In Arthurian legend, Gawain
(Representing the Oak King of summer) fought the Green Knight, who
was armed with a Holly club to represent winter. Holly medicine may
be used with difficulties in sleep and to ease the passage of death.

HAZEL – Hazel embodies many talents: poetry, divination, and the
powers of meditation. In Celtic tradition, the Salmon of knowledge is
said to eat the nuts dropped into its sacred pool from this tree
growing beside it. Each nut eaten by the salmon becomes a spot on its
skin. In Europe and North America
Hazel is used to gain knowledge, wisdom & poetic inspiration.

APPLE – A dense, fine grained, rosy colored wood with a sweet smell.
Apple is associated with choice. This is good medicine to use when
your are having difficulty in making decisions, whether they are work
or relationship oriented.

VINE – This is used in the development of prophetic powers, best when
used while trying to reach deeper state of consciousness and when
doing healing work.

IVY – Represents the spiral of the self and the search for self. The
maze of the labyrinth is also linked to Ivy, since it symbolized the
wondering soul, circling inward and outward, seeking nourishment from
within & without, leading you to ENLIGHTENMENT . A wonderful aid if
helping others on a spiritual journey.

REED – Helps create spiritual weapons – gives you direction. Best
when used before beginning healing work or soul retrievals.

BLACKTHORN – is a wintery tree. Fruits, known as sloes, only ripen
after the first frost. The Gaelic word “staif” has links with English
word “strife”. Wood of Blackthorn is traditionally used with the
Irish shillelagh. It represents the strong action of fate or outside
influences in your life. Blackthorn should not be used by the novice.

ELDER – is linked to eternal turnings of life and death, birth and
rebirth. It represents the end/beginning and beginning/end.
Significant of creativity and renewal.. new beginnings.

SILVER FIR – is used to bring knowledge of your present and past
lives into now. The color sliver links you to your SILVER THREAD
symbolizing your awareness of the progress of your spiritual journey.
Best used when searching for gift of INSIGHT.

HEATHER – used for Solitary healing work (going within) Heather along
with mistletoe create powerful healing medicine in both spiritual and
physical aspects.

WHITE POPLAR – concerns with earthly and material aspects of Life.
Also with finding the spiritual determination to face hardship we
have to endure. This tree has the ability to resist and to shield,
also an ability with languages and speech with close relationship
with the winds.

YEW- mostly found in ancient cemeteries. In Breton Legen, the tree is
said to grow a root into the open mouth of each corpse buried in the
graveyard. This root is the symbol of rebirth. Good medicine when
used in working with past life issues and regression.

GROVE – tree of All Knowledge. The grove represents a sacred place
wehre all is linked and becomes clear. Helps you look beneath the
surface of things.. whether situations or people. Medicine works with
your hidden knowledge, helping you to manifest it at the appropriate
time.

SPINDLE – completion of tasks. Ability to complete something to its
end, no matter how difficult. Good for progressing in certain areas
of your life which are of difficulty to you

HONEYSUCKLE – helps you to distinguish what is real from what is
false, and what is of real value on your journey. The honeysuckle
will help you tread safely – remaining true to your quest.

BEECH – Beech wood is close grained and easy t work with – smooth and
even surface. Beech medicine can tell you about yesterday and how it
is relevant today. Handling old objects or visiting a place connected
to your past will bring understanding of people, incidents, reviving
the memories within that are needed.

I found this and thought it was cool passing it on hope you like it.. Witch of the North.

Kings Holly:

1997; King’s Holly (Lomatia tasmanica)
Found in the rainforests of Tasmania. Scientists estimated the age of the plant using a nearby fossil of an identical plant. It was found to be over 43,000 years old! The plants appear to be sterile – incapable of producing flowers and viable seeds. Lomatia is triploid, that is, it has three sets of chromosomes instead of two. Because of this it is unable to sexually reproduce. The clonal thickets reproduce vegetatively by root suckering. Fossil leaves found in a late Pleistocene deposit may be genetically identical to present-day plants. The plant is a rare freak of nature whose origins and age are as yet unknown.

Box Huckleberry :

August, 1999; Box Huckleberry (Gaylussacia brachycera)
Researchers in Pennsylvania have discovered a living plant that is a remnant of the last Ice Age. Using the known rate of growth if this self-sterile plant, they estimated that this 1/4-acre colony is over 13,000 years old. Researchers are still trying to verify the growth rate to determine is that age is an accurate measure.

Mongarlowe Mallee:

March, 2004; (Eucalyptus recurva)
Also known as “Mongarlowe Mallee” or “Ice Age Gum” it is the rarest Eucalypt in Australia or the world, and is known from only 5 individual specimens. Scientists in Australia are undertaking analyses to determine the exact age of one specimen that is estimated to be 13,000 years old. This aging method also relies on determining the plant’s growth rate. Scientists are stilly verifying the growth and performing genetic analyses of neighboring specimens to determine if they are from the same organism.

Creosote Bush:

April, 1980; Creosote bush (Larrea tridentata)
Scientists discovered a giant, and very ancient clone of the creosote bush in the Mojave Desert in California they estimated to be between 11,000 and 12,000 years old.

Prometheus:

1964; Bristlecone Pine (A.K.A.~Prometheus)
Prometheus, an ancient Bristlecone Pine was discovered to be among one of the oldest living trees on earth by Donald R. Curry during the summers of 1963 and 1964. In a ridiculous self-serving attempt to “prove” this, during the summer the United States Congress debated and passed the Wilderness Act of 1964, he managed to reduce the once mighty Prometheus to nothing more than a dead stump. He did this with the assistance of Donald Cox, the Forest Service District Ranger! Prometheus was later determined to be 5,100 years old. The oldest known living thing on Earth at the time. One small step for science, one giant leap for human ignorance!

Methuselah:

Methuselah (estimated germination 2832 BC)
Great Basin Bristlecone Pine (Pinus longaeva) in the White Mountains of California, which was 4,789 years old when sampled in 1957 by Schulman and Harlan. It is the oldest non-clonal living organism still alive, at the age of about 4,839 years old. Located in the “Forest of Ancients” in the Methuselah Grove at between 2,900–3,000 m above sea level, its exact location is currently undisclosed to the public as a protection against vandalism.

Lets hope she never falls prey to the fate of Prometheus.

Forests and Trees

Trees, which have been in existence for over 400 million years, are the world’s largest living creatures. The world’s biggest tree, a giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) named “General Sherman,” stood over 83 meters tall, measured over 31 meters in circumference and weighed about 6,096 tonnes, when it was last measured in 1975! It grew from a seed that weighed only 5 milligrams. That’s smaller than a vitamin pill!

While “General Sherman” may be the world’s biggest tree, the world’s tallest tree is another giant sequoia named “Harry Cole.” Harry measures over 112 meters from base to crown – the height of a 37-story building!

29.6 per cent of the world’s land area is covered by forest. About 10 per cent of that is in Canada. Rain forests generate about 40 per cent of the world’s oxygen. A 30 meter tree with 200,000 leaves can suck up 43,000 litres of water and breathe it into the air in just one growing season. Medicine in aspirins originally came from the bark of a willow tree. One acre of trees can absorb over 2.5 tons of carbon dioxide in a year. Every ton of recycled paper saves approximately 17 trees and saves 4,100 kilowatt hours of electricity – enough energy to heat the average home for six months.

“We cannot win this battle to save the species and environments without forging an emotional bond between ourselves and nature as well — for we will not fight to save what we do not love.”
~ Stephen Jay Gould

‘Wolves linked to tree recovery’
By MIKE STARK

Reintroduced wolves appear to be playing a major role in the resurgence of streamside trees and shrubs in certain portions of in Yellowstone National Park, according to two new studies by scientists at Oregon State University.

When wolves were absent from the park, from the 1920s until the mid-1990s, elk grazed heavily and repeatedly on young cottonwoods, aspen and willows. Since wolves have returned, the elk have been forced to be more mobile, which has meant easing up on certain feeding spots.

“Wolves are the top of the food chain,” Bill Ripple, an OSU forestry professor who has been studying aspen and other species in Yellowstone since 1997, said Tuesday. “Wolves affect elk and elk affect species like aspen.”

In recent years, young cottonwoods and willows have been especially robust in areas where elk may have once browsed but now feel the threat of wolves, including places where they have few ways to escape, Ripple said.

“If they’re boxed in against a canyon wall or a cutbank on a river — those seemed to be the places which are showing more growth,” Ripple said.

Meanwhile, low-risk sites for elk are still being consumed and show little growth, according to the studies.

The findings of the studies were recently published in the journals Ecological Applications and Forest Ecology and Management.

The idea behind the studies is to examine the effect that wolves are having in the Yellowstone ecosystem beyond simple predation on elk and other prey.

“With the restoration of wolves in Yellowstone, for the first time we have the full suite of top carnivores,” Ripple said. “That is a grand experiment for us to take notice of what the connections are between different animals and plants.”

Ripple acknowledged that the results of the studies are still “somewhat preliminary” because wolves have only been back in Yellowstone since 1995. Still, researchers say it’s hard to ignore the hypothesis that there’s a strong connection between the return of wolves and the revival of certain plants and trees.

“The data show a clear and remarkable linkage between the presence of wolves and the health of an entire streamside ecosystem,” said an announcement from OSU about the studies.

In some areas on wintering range for elk, researchers found hundreds of short cottonwood seedlings among cottonwoods that were 70 years old or older, but very few trees that had not been chewed off before they passed the seedling stage.

“Long-term elk browsing has been preventing any seedling from getting taller,” Robert Beschta, a forestry professor emeritus at OSU, said about one area along the Lamar River.

Scientists said they were able to see a clear connection between the removal of wolves in late 1800s and early 1900s and a decline in species such as cottonwoods and aspen.

“I considered a variety of potential reasons that might explain the historical decline of cottonwoods that began in the 1920s and have continued up to the last couple of years,” Beschta said in a statement Tuesday. “I looked at climate change, lack of floods, fire suppression, natural stand dynamics, and numbers of elk. But none of those factors really explained the problem. Ultimately, it became clear that wolves were the answer.”

Without fear of wolves, the elk were allowed to browse anywhere they liked for decades, the scientists said. Killing off cottonwoods, willows and other streamside shrubs allowed for increased erosion and effects on birds, insects and other wildlife, they said.

“Before the wolves came back, it was pretty clear that in some areas we were heading toward an outright extinction of cottonwoods,” Beschta said.

Streamside shrubs and cottonwoods in places such as the Lamar Valley have rebounded since the reintroduction of wolves, growing taller and becoming more prevalent, the scientists said.

“There’s this domino effect from wolves to elk to trees,” Ripple said.

The OSU researchers caution that their studies aren’t an encompassing look at Yellowstone and the effects of wolves, but it is an indication that the wolves appear to have stopped a major decline in the survival rates of cottonwoods and willows.

“One point that should not be missed is this is actually great news for the potential recovery of cottonwood trees and mature willows in Yellowstone National Park,” Ripple said. “We now have a pretty good idea why they were in decline and the return of wolves should help pave the way for their recovery. Even though it may take a very long time, for a change it looks
like we’re headed in the right direction.”

Please Visit Defenders of Wildlife to learn more facts about the Wolf and how you can help

Trees are the lungs of our planet, and we all need them to live and breathe. Among the Lakota, we call this nation the Tree People. Consider planting a tree. Or maybe two or three. Give back what you possibly take for granted as a limitless resource. We can all do our part in helping to restore the balance. I will certainly do my part, and wish to spread the word about a program designed to bring about a change for the positive. 

Honor a Loved one with a TreeGivers Gift Tree

Arrange for your gift tree to be planted in the State or listed Country of your choice. Each TreeGivers gift tree supplements the natural resources of our Earth and brings life and beauty to the countryside!

Trees … are living, growing majestic beings.

They are a resource to our Earth, beings to take care of, a source of great power, living parts of our ever important world.

Trees purify the air, increase natural beauty, calm our souls, and are a perfect way to honor and remember special people.

If you wish to learn more, visit TreeGivers Gift Tree
today.

(Please do not copy this image without permission. Visit Art by Ian Marke)

Saturday morning, October 13th, Jake Swamp will preside over a Tree of Peace Planting Ceremony. Over a thousand years ago, the Peacemaker and Aiionwatha (Hiawatha) brought the Great Law of Peace (Kaianerekowa) to the warring Indian nations of what is now New York State. The message of Peace, Power, and the Good Mind resulted in the forming of the Haudenosaunee Iroquois Confederacy. These nations were instructed to bury their weapons of war under the Great Tree of Peace. The Tree Planting Ceremony that Chief Swamp shares is an effort to bring awareness to environmental and social concerns.

Jake Swamp has been a Mohawk Sub-Chief and representative on the Grand Council of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and is an internationally renowned speaker on Indigenous, environmental and social issues. He was directly involved in the creation of the
Akwesasne Freedom School – a Mohawk language immersion school of critical acclaim that has been an inspiration to many First Nation peoples in the United States and Canada. He is the author of the children’s book Giving Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message, which has been translated into five languages and was featured on the PBS television show Reading Rainbow. Other projects include The Peacemaker’s Journey audiocassette produced by Parabola Magazine (1996), The U.S. Constitution & The Great Law of Peace: A Comparison (2004) and the film Dreamkeeper by Hallmark Entertainment (2003), for which he was a consultant…

What are the indigenous roots of our democracy? Are there other traditions that point the way to a satisfying and sustainable future of peace and consensus?

Lecture: Jake Swamp, Tekaronianeken, will appear at the Natural Way-Indigenous Voices on Friday evening, October 12, 2007, to discuss the traditions of peace and democracy originating amongst his people, the Haudenosaunee or Iroquois Confederacy. As the role models for the Founding Fathers in the writing of the US Constitution, the Haudenosaunee have much experience to share with younger, struggling democracies. 

The Natural Way Indigenous Voices begins its ninth season in October, 2007. The mission of this program is to honor all traditions that value the earth. We provide a forum for those who strive to preserve and enhance earth-based, sustainable living to share their traditions, knowledge and beliefs about the earth.

Taking root
By VALERIE MONSON, Staff Writer

ULUPALAKUA – Hawaiian family members long separated from their roots returned home Saturday in an emotional reunion that many thought might never happen.

Eight alani seedlings went back to the Auwahi forest, taking their place in the shadow of their only known ancestor living in the wild.

“This is where they’re supposed to be,” said a proud Martha Vockrodt Moran, caretaker of the tree that produced the seeds, as she watched another plant go from pot to posterity. “It’s so great that they’re going home.”

The story of the alani – a native Hawaiian tree that once flourished on the back flank of Haleakala – has become yet another piece of the ongoing miracle at Auwahi, the dryland forest that was all but dead five years ago. With its dwindling collection of rare trees reaching old age and unable to reproduce in a landscape made hostile by cattle, kikuyu grass and fire, the native forest was fading away.

Since it was man who unwittingly led to the downfall of the forest, it seemed only right that it was men – and a whole lot of women, too – whose exhaustive efforts have brought a strand of it back, restoring hope for the land and the Native Hawaiian people whose culture centers on the sights, the sounds, the smells and the very spirit of the forest.

“In a Western sort of thinking, man has dominions over nature,” said Kalei Tsuha, the kumu whose family led the chants and prayers that welcomed back the alani. “In the Hawaiian perspective, we are one and the same. As Hawaiians, we need to have contact with the forest and the forest needs to have contact with us.”

Until a year ago, there was the very real possibility that contact with the alani would become a thing of the past. Biologists were aware of only two left – one in the wild at Auwahi on Ulupalakua Ranch and the other in the arboretum started by Moran’s grandfather, the renowned agronomist D.T. Fleming. Even worse, both were ailing and appeared to have lost their capability for producing viable seeds.

But Moran was determined to carry on the legacy of her grandfather who had collected the alani from Auwahi 50 years ago and planted it in his arboretum at nearby Puu Mahoe along with other plants that he feared were nearing extinction.

Alani were once prolific at Auwahi, where they grew to 30 or 40 feet tall and developed trunks a foot in diameter. Formerly known as “Pelea” for Pele, the goddess of Hawaiian volcanoes, the leaves release a fragrance similar to oranges and were used to scent kapa. The bark was used for medicine.

Calling herself “only a gardener,” Moran knew she needed help to save her tree, so she assembled a crack team that made Saturday’s homecoming possible: Makawao arborist Ernie Rezents, who diagnosed the tree’s disease and prescribed the cure; Nellie Sugii, a researcher at Lyons Arboretum on Oahu, whose experiments led to germination; and expert growers Anna Palomino, Richard Nakagawa, and Dan and Noah Judson, all of Maui, who produced the eight seedlings.

Meanwhile, Auwahi, with the permission of ranch executives Pardee and Sumner Erdman, was being readied for its return by tireless biologist Art Medeiros and his crack team of volunteers who have spent the last eight years fencing, weeding, digging, propagating, planting and willing the land back to life. After successfully restoring one 10-acre enclosure, they have fenced off another 20 acres that includes an old lava channel where the last alani was struggling to survive.

“When it gets cloudy here, it’s like you’re in a cathedral,” said Bob Mikell, one of the volunteers who has given up weekend after weekend to see Auwahi revived. “Everyone here is really possessive of this place. It’s part of their body and part of their spirit.”

The feeling of family was in the forest air as the plants were unloaded from four-wheel drive vehicles that traveled as far as they could, and then the plants were carried by hand the rest of the treacherous way across loose rocks and tangles of weeds. As the alani were going home, Moran couldn’t help but think of her grandfather on the afternoon that he went to Auwahi and gathered the alani that would become the mother to this new generation. Also thinking back was Mahealani Kaiaokamalie, seventh generation of his ohana to live in the area. Kaiaokamalie’s grandfather, William Ainoa Kaiaokamalie, saw the forest collapse in his lifetime. When famed botanist John Rock, who once described Auwahi as one of the top two dryland forests in Hawaii, returned in the 1960s to see it again, he asked the elder Kaiaokamalie to lead the way. As the men came upon the forest near death, Rock broke down and wept.

Mahealani Kaiaokamalie, who has spent much of his adult life restoring native ecosystems, wondered what his grandfather – and other ancestors – would be thinking at the scene below.

“I can only imagine they’re looking down and saying ’mahalo,’ ” said Kaiaokamalie. “My family has always been private, but I think they would be proud that somebody from their genealogy is here today. That’s all I live for – to make them proud.”

It was a day when pride seemed to ooze from the ground. Once the holes were dug, they were checked and rechecked to make sure they were deep enough (but not too deep) and wide enough (but not too wide).

Finally, with the holes deemed ready for occupancy, Kalei Tsuha and her family – husband, Mark, and daughters, Kawai and Joanna – called for silence as the crowd gathered around the single ancestor alani left in the wild. Holding the keiki up to the kupuna tree, Kalei Tsuha summoned the forest gods in a chant of celebration and introduced the young alani to the old one while reuniting a larger ohana.

“The forest is the greater kuahu (altar),” Tsuha said earlier. “The kuahu is where the gods dwell. For Hawaiians, those are our ancestors. Since we’re losing them, we’re losing ourselves.”

But on this afternoon, the ancestors – and their living descendants – got a boost and made contact. Moran was even startled to see how different the alani seedlings looked once they were sprung from their pots and had settled into their beds of rich volcanic soil.

“They seem to have gotten bigger by just getting into the ground,” she said with joy.

After years on the brink of extinction, the alani were back where they belong. They were home with the ancestors.

Valerie Monson can be reached at vmonson@mauinews.com.

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