How Forest Fires Affect thc Economic and Recreational Wealth of the Redwood Region

(This is the prize winning essay submitted by Chatles Andrain of Fortuna Union High School in the Redu'ood Region Conservation Council's high school essay contest. Over 400 students within the Redrvood Region submitted essays).

For over two thousand years I have stood in this forest, towering hundreds of feet in the air. I am a redwood tree, and people have named me Sequoia Sempervirens. To many I resemble a giant statue, even taller than the majestic Statue of Liberty. From my lofty perch I see a great many things that go on. Stretching far belov'' me is a beautiful and plentiful land, covered with all shades of green grass, rainborv colored lupine and iris, fragrant three-petaled trillium, azalea and rhododendron, tall ferns, and other giant sequoias like myself. I can see that the redwood area depends on me. Not only do I provide a livelihood for thousands of people, but I am somethi.ng they all ban enjoy.

Even though my name means "always living," I knorv that my time is soon coming. I like to think about the many things that will happen to'me. I will meet many types and classes of people-people from nearby states and counties who have moved to the redwood region; young men from high schools and colleges who find a good job waiting for them in the summer; and the older folks who have worked in the redwoods all their lives. I will be carried to a busy sawmill. There men and machines will make me into many different sizes and shapes. Afterwards at the planing mill, my skin will be made smooth and velvety. From the planing mill I could be sent to thousands of places, to be manufactured into a great ntlmber of things. I could become a beautiful redu'ood house, or some of the furniture in that house. I might be made into a pencil or a piece of paper and help a child do his work in one of the modern schools of the redwood region. .f can even see myself as a "unique one-log house." If that sounds strange, I even know of cases where the entire church was built from a single redu'ood tree. Science has developed wonderful new products from wood. Perhaps you will see me as the pretty rayon dress that will make Janie so popular at the next school dance. Many pliistics, such as the covering on your table, are produced from redwood trees. But more than anything else, I dream that some part of me will become a redwood burl vase. Delicate and skilled hands will magically form me into an article of lasting beauty. I will appear in one of the many gift shops along the Redwood Highway. I will get to see the whole world, for many tourists traveling through the redwoods will buy me and take me home with them. So many different useful and beautiful products can be made from a single redwood tree that many times I am called "a living factory." Not only will I benefit thd people who will have a part in creating many useful wood products, but I will also profit those who will sell me all along the scenic route of the redwoods.

I had been thinking so much about the good I would bring to people who live in the redwoods, that I had not noticed the campers below me. I can tell that they have had a wonderful time. They are getting ready to leave now.

As I rvatch them packing, I wish that I could speak their language. "Be careful to put out that campfire! No, no you have only splashed a little water on it. Don't you see that a few of those embers are still burning? I-ook again ! I\fy life and others near me are at stake."

The only response is'that of the car's motor. There is a soft purr, gradually getting fainter; then there is only the sound of the crackling embers.

As if in a trance, I stare into the hot coals of the burning campfire. I see in those embers the pleasure I have brought to the people of the redwood area. I remember those who loved the thrill of playing in the redwoods during all seasons of the year. In the sprinS$ime, peop[e came to pick the fragrant wildflorvers, and to listen to the sounds of the birds and animals. Many of these people photographed the beauty of the redwoods when everything was so fresh and green. During the summer, people loved to camp amidst the calm and peaceful serenity of the tall redwoods. Boy Scouts took long hikes, exploring and observing the plant and animal life. fn the fall, the deer began to feel uneasy. They knew that the hunters would soon start to the forest. As winter approached, the ground and the trees were often covered with a blanket of white. I remember horv I had shivered. Faint figures whizzing past me on their skiis had not made me feel any warmer. Each year it made my heart sing to know that I brought so much happiness to those who like to play in the redu'oods.

That dreadful cracking noise is becoming louder and louder. Even norv the birds and animals are racing to escape the fire's burning fangs, but the trees cannot move. All we can do is wait. I look over towards my neigtboring sequoias. These giants are having their dreams, too. Theirs, like mine, are disappearing in a great cloud of smoke. The fire rvill soon be out of control. It will not be long before the firefighters are here. It is too late to save me, l>ut others rvill be rescued.

A year has gone by since the great fire. All tte excitement has died down, and there is a deathly quiet. The land is desolate. Overhead a tiny hummingbird pauses in flight. and looks down. ft doesn't recognize me, for no longer am I a proud and beautiful redwood. All that remains is a charred black skeleton.

Cclilornic Visitor

R. T. Titus, executive vice president of Western Forest Industries, Portland, Ore., was a San Francisco and Los Angeles visitor around the middle of February where he spent several days on a combined business and pleasure trip. He was accompanied by Mrs. Titus. \