I watched this video many months ago and don't remember all of its content. I just happened to see it in my Youtube favorites, and then post it. So all that you say, I don't remember. Thanks for the comments.
--- On Thu, 10/8/09, Edward Frank <[email protected]> wrote: From: Edward Frank <[email protected]> Subject: [ENTS] Re: Bristlecone Pines on Youtube To: [email protected] Date: Thursday, October 8, 2009, 2:35 PM Barry, Very nice pictures, but I simply do not believe the story as is told in the video. It is, in my opinion, revisionist history - a fairy tale. It is difficult to core bristlecone pine because of their size. The pith of the tree is not usually at the center of the wood mass and it has an irregular structure that also complicates the process. He tried and failed to get useful results for this tree prior to cutting it down. So coring may not have been a viable option in this case. Dr. Currey received all of the permits and permissions required to collect a sample tree. He chose one specimen that looked old, among many in the region that looked to be similarly old. Likely he chose what was the oldest looking in the immediate area. The tree had very little live growth on it. So he cut it down as part of a larger study. It was only afterwards that anyone claimed to have opposed cutting the tree down, I think to make themselves part of a heroic fantasy. It was a shame this tree was cut, but who knows if another one was chosen it might have been even older. The furor this unintentionally stirred up led to the preservation of the entire grove in Great Basin National Park. So in the end likely more bristlecones, and older bristlecones were preserved because of this one being cut down. This is the version I believe to be true. Ed Frank "Oh, I call myself a scientist. I wear a white coat and probe a monkey every now and then, but if I put monetary gain ahead of preserving nature...I couldn't live with myself." - Professor Hubert Farnsworth ----- Original Message ----- From: Barry Caselli To: ENTS Sent: Thursday, October 08, 2009 4:56 PM Subject: [ENTS] Bristlecone Pines on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dD-yojX5iEk --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org Send email to [email protected] Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
