Consider the evidence of the large trees that once covered this area. These lands were once immersed in dense mature forests with trees the size of the Western Red Cedar stump (21’ diameter) found in the Gardens’ abandoned ADA parking area (the County is asking the area be planted with Douglas Fir, etc., 21110296LDA).  Drive from Medford to Vancouver, BC, and then right or left, east or west one hour, and one can’t find a single living tree older than 150 years. (Cedars can last for 3,000 years, Douglas Firs for 1,500). We’ve cut down all the big trees, every one of them. We left not one standing. “Scientist, author, lecturer, and species explorer, Quentin Wheeler, has named more than 100 species new to science and published more than 175 scientific papers. According to Wheeler, … this is the first time that humans have driven a mass extinction event. ‘And so, from my perspective, that puts a strong ethical responsibility … we have it within our power to maximize the number of species that survive and to assure that those surviving are diverse as possible.’ Diversity, he stressed, is crucial as it makes our ecosystems more resilient.”  From the Gardens perspective, a few ancient specimens of each species might be allowed to live (and be heard), not silenced by the greed for the almighty $.  To quote a friend who died in Eugene (U of O) 5 years ago, where she wrote her Hugo Award winning, Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang, “they were all different.”  In 1977 she could foresee our evolving story of single clone monocultures.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C5BUA_FMUBL/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Wilhelm
https://www.thecooldown.com/outdoors/native-plants/ 
https://www.coasttocoastam.com/show/2023-07-17-show/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where_Late_the_Sweet_Birds_Sang
https://www.yahoo.com/news/italy-told-brace-most-intense-155600091.html 
https://www.plc215.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/2013-Conditional-Use-Permit-Narrative.pdf

The above stump is preserved by a toxin it generates that slows decay.  While other conifers disappear overtime (slower than fast decaying alders), this species dominates the few remaining stumps of these large trees still found in the Gardens.  It is a:

cedar
fir
hemlock

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