News from the world of Trees.

STORMS, CHAINSAWS THREATEN NOTABLE TREES

Severe storms and vandals with chainsaws have threatened the lives of several notable trees.

The most notorious case involves "Luna," a 200-foot-tall redwood in Humboldt County, California, so named by activist Julia "Butterfly" Hill, who lived in its branches for two years to protest local logging practices. Hill climbed down in December 1999 after the tree's owner, Pacific Lumber, agreed to sell Luna and a 200-foot buffer zone to Hill and a land trust.

In November environmentalists discovered a 32-inch gash reaching 19 feet around the tree's base. The damage was caused by a chainsaw, authorities said. Despite the injury, the tree's chances for survival are good, Rondall Snodgrass of Sanctuary Forest, the tree's owner, told The Press Democrat in Sonoma County, California. But the gash makes Luna more vulnerable to blowdown because redwoods have shallow roots. Tree experts put steel braces on the redwood soon after the injury to protect it from winter storms.

In Tiller, Oregon, chainsaw-wielding vandals attacked one of the world's tallest sugar pines, stripping away a band of bark and several important layers on its base, the Associated Press reports. The 265-foot-tall tree, believed to be 400 years old, is a favorite tourist stop. A $500 reward has been offered for information about the crime.

In New York, the forces of nature are to blame for a gash in the trunk of the state's tallest white pine, located in Charles Lathrop Pack Demonstration Forest in Warrensburg. A lightning strike left the 315-year-old pine with a 2-inch gash from top to bottom, according to Inside ESF, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry's magazine.

Listed on New York's historic tree register, the 175-foot-tall "Grandmother's Tree" was named for Margaret Woodward who in the early 1800s is believed to have chained herself to the tree to keep loggers from cutting it. The prognosis for the white pine looks good so far, though, says Bruce W. Breitmeyer, the forest's property manager.

Meanwhile, arborists are giving special treatments to the National Champion American hack-berry near Mason City, Illinois. That tree lost part of its crown during a recent storm, and arborist Earl Throop has cabled, fertilized, and pruned the ailing tree. AMERICAN FORESTS member Guy Steinberg reports that despite the damage, the champ has grown slightly.

Out in Seaside, Oregon, they aren't worrying about vandals or storms. They've installed signs along U.S. 101 and Oregon Rt. 26 to call attention to the National Champion sitka spruce in Klootchy Creek County Park. The signs will help direct tourists to the 216-foot-tall giant, known locally as the "Seaside Spruce."