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Show Leases PFE PPPS PIES FS TLS BIE Se aSS The Salt Lake Tribune NATION Sunday, January 23, 2000 Which Wayto the World’s Tallest Tree? Famed redwoods locale BY DAVID FOSTER Montgomery Woods State Reserve near Ukiah, is the tallest known tree in the world. It stands 367 feet 6 inches, or five stories higher than the Statue of Liberty. Since then, Poppelreiter has had no end of tall troubles: nosy ‘THE ASSOCIATEDPRESS journalists, “tree baggers” eager to check off a new champion on is a well-guarded secret at Montgomery Woods UKIAH, Calif. — The world’s tallest tree is somewhere ahead on the trail, and park ranger Karl Poppelreiter is dawdling over a newt. It is an interesting newt, as newts go, with a nut-brown back and a brightred belly. But newts are not why a reporter and photographer have joined Poppelre- iter on this cold, drizzly morning in the redwoods. The ranger has promised, with some hesitation and several restrictions, to reveal a closely guarded secret: the precise loca- tion of the world’stallest tree. First, however, he wants his guests to consider newts. And ferns. Andfallen tree trunks. And hollow stumps. Poppelreiter’s at- tention flashes from one small wonderto another. Fascinating. But what about thetallest tree? Oh,yes, the tree. There’s something you should know aboutthat tree, Poppelreiter warns: “It re- ally doesn’t stand out among the rest. The significance of this par- ticular tree is that it’s part of a grove with a large numberoftall trees. This is a wonderful place to comeand enjoy creation. There’s noplace as lush and beautiful and enjoyable as a redwood forest.” That's great, ranger Poppelreiter. Now will you show us the tree? Tallest of the Tall: The biggest. Thetallest. The heaviest. There’s something big about our obses- sion with big, nowhere more so Given the lopsided ratio of tree popular specimens could easily be admired to death if public access weren'tlimited. On the other hand,it’s hard to keep the world’s tallest tree a secret. Measurements made last March confirmed that Mendocino Tree, a coast redwood growing in called him last June. Democrat asked if Poppelreiter would guide him to the world’s of perspective, he explains, more significant to humans than to na- tallesttree. The ranger hemmed and ture. A towering redwood mayinspire awe, he says, but even more inspiring is the web of life to whichit belongs. hawed, whereupon Geniella suggested that if Poppelreiter didn’t The usual response: That’s swell, ranger Poppelreiter. Now which way to the world’s tallest tree? Things could be worse. A cen- tury ago, California’s biggest redwoodsusually were measured and admired only after they were cut down. Only 5 percent of the origi- nal redwood forest remains, mostly in public parks and reserves. Preservation has broughtits own abuses — the kind born of good intentions. There are drive- through redwoodtrees, their bases hollowed out to accommodate cars. Other trees are encircled by fences and paved trails. Somevisitors pry off bits of bark as souvenirs. Based ona laser ranger-finder measurement, the Mendocino Tree waslisted in the 1998 Guinness BookofRecords as the world’s tallestliving tree at just under 368 Secret Revealed: Tipped off by Guinness book, reporter Mike Ge- niella of the Santa Rosa Press Reassured bythis fnwriteserioe. rolled, he climbed Mendocino It stood 367 feet 6 inches tall — in- disputably the world’s tallest. With everyone involved vowing not to reveal the tree’s location,Sillett thought he’d found the ” redwood- iter. But other locais think things should be even more secretive. AMere : Poppelreiter says he understands the popular preoccupation with the biggest June 4 missed those subtleties. “World’stallest tree near Ukiah,” it declared, next to a big picture showing the ranger staring up at thetree. won't tell where thetallesttree is. andtallest. “It’s our culture,” he shrugs. “We're competitive.” But enough philosophy. The ranger knows whyhis guests are Late that night, a couple walked upto the front desk at Orr HotSprings resort, two miles from Montgomery Woods, and asked: Which way to the world’stallest tree? The stampede had begun. From June through September, 15,300 people visited the reserve, double the usual number, Poppelreiter says. People were spotted walking the mile-long looptrail, newspaper in hand, trying to matchthe picture to a tree. The small parking lot started overflowing on weekends.Thepit toilet filled up faster. Tour-group here. He stops along thetrail and stares into the forest. There, he announces. The world’stallesttree. Where? A dozen stout ors soar skyward,vanishing into the canopy. From this vantage poiint, any one of them could be the lest. One fat specimenseems likely candidate, but Poppelreiter points to a skinnier trunk nearby.At 10 feet in diameter, Mendocino Tree Dan Krauss/The Associated Press Park ranger Karl Poppelreiter stands in front of Mendocino Tree,the world’s tallest, near Ukiah, Calif. The coastal redwood stands 367 feet 6 inchestall in the Montgomery Woods State Reserve. is a mere beanpole compared with some of its neighbors. Mossy ridges of bark thesize of railroad good thing.” Soonerorlater, lightning will tallesttree. The crowds here will thin. The through Montgomery Woods, and pit toilet will fill up more slowly. And ranger Poppelreiter will truck into the grove. ties spiral up the trunk,pointing to the first branch,190 feet up. There is more that could be said about MendocinoTree. Butat Poppelreiter’s insistence,that’s as muchas can be revealed here. off all proposals for industrial- redwoods and their imminent loads oftourists. A Japanese film company wanted to drive a boom sparked no tourist stam “As a ‘tree-hi loving taxpayer, I feel I have a right to know and see. . . the new tallest tree,” one frequentvisitor complained in a letter to Road signs to the park have a habit of disappearing. At Orr Hot Springs, employees don’t know or The book even mentioned Woods. But the short paregrent, where Mendocing;Tree is. Other staffers prefer npt to know, he says, so they don't have to lie to visitors. This don't-tell arent is not universally would. Poppelreiter relented, figuring he could at least educate people aboutbiodiversity and forest ecology. The front-page headline on that it grew in Montgomery feet. On Poppelreiter’s orders, there nee the tree. What’s more, he is the only park re who knows help, sooner orlater someone else operators called Foppelrelter, until they’ve seen the biggest of lovers to beloved trees, the most Things have been crazy, he says, ever since the first reporter get people to look past the trees and see the forest. Big is a matter Tree and confirmed its height with a weighted measuring tape. the big andthetallestofthetall. fallen giant. a boy who'd been reading the trees on Earth draw throngs of nature-lovers each year, and many pilgrims aren’t satisfied crosses the creek on another their lists, local residents jealous of their privacy, tour companies seeking another roadside attraction. Through it all, he has tried to Steve Sillett, a botany professor at Humboldt State University, agreed to participate last March in adocumentary led by the Save the Redwoods League. As cameras than in the redwood and sequoia groves ofCalifornia. Here, the biggest and tallest Step by slow step, ranger Poppelreiter is getting closer to the world’s tallest tree. He ducks under a boxcar-sized log, then asking if they could bring in bus- So far, Poppelreiter has fended strength tourism. The road to the reserve is too narrow for tour buses, he says,andthetrail to the groveis too steep for frail walkers. strike or an ill wind will blow another redwood in some other grove will become the world’s “Tf this tree can represent the peril, then this tree has done a good thing,” he says.“If I can pro- tect this tree and the area around it from overuse,then I've done a AIR DUCT ie ge ROSACEA SUFFERERS NEEDED Dermatology masses. This,ofcourse, couldnotlast. Research Center. 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