Falling and Flying in the Forest

Photo: Helicopter for forest survey

This week I worked in a 24,000 acre northern California redwood forest.

Photo: Garcia River Forest, Mendocino County, California

I helped with "falling a tree," which is different than just "a tree falling." We cut down selected trees - already marked for harvest - to measure their growth rate and other factors.

Photo: Tree cookie and me

Falling a tree includes COOKIE cutting! The forester cuts a small slice out of different sections of the tree - a "cookie" - and we would count the rings to determine the tree's age at that height. By examining a batch of cookies, we could determine how fast the tree grew at different stages. ("Batch of cookies" is my term that I think the foresters should now use.)


By chance, I happened to visit the forest on the day where work included flying in a helicopter to search for certain invasive species.

I had been terrified of the idea of riding in a helicopter, but I could not pass up this chance. I hopped in and spent a few hours gliding above redwoods and weaving between mountains ridges. I pretended that my view was like a video screen - virtual reality rather than reality - and this helped calm my nerves.

Photo: Riding in the helicopter! An exciting and beautiful trip.

To learn more about what's going on at Garcia River Forest, click on this recent NPR story, "Scientists Turn Trees Into Carbon Banks" or San Francisco Chronicle's "Forests Break Ground by Selling Offsets." The second story has cool photos and graphics and explains how forests reduce carbon.