# 352 - March 27th, 2013

Greetings one and all – if you are sitting comfortably then I shall begin… In an extremely secretive service held at a location and on a date that cannot be shared, my family and brethren were honored by having the 2nd tallest tree in the Valley’s majestic Hendy Woods, at 343.6 feet high, being officially named ‘Turkey Vulture.’ Needless to say we were all deeply moved…

       Anyway, with this in mind, and in my continuing efforts to raise the intellectual level of the contents of this column, here is a short tutorial on the world’s tallest trees – and they are all right here in northern California…

       The coast redwood is one of the three sequoia tree species, together with the giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) and the dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides). The coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) grows in a long, thin coastal area along the Pacific Ocean in the west and northwest of the US (mostly California). It is the tallest species of tree in the world.

       With its relatively slender silhouette this tree can grow even up to 60 ft taller than the tallest giant sequoias, that are nevertheless the biggest trees in the world, when looking at the volume of the trunk. The tallest known living tree in the world, named Hyperion, is 379.46 ft (measured in 2006) tall! This gets close to the 390’ to 425’ range that, according to a 2004 biological study, is the maximum attainable height of a tree.

       In Anderson Valley we are extremely fortunate/honored to be the home for six trees at 340 feet or taller. These are all in Big Hendy Grove in the Hendy Woods State Park, with the tallest being Polysprout at 344.6’. After the 2nd-placed Turkey Vulture, and tied for third, are Backloop and Humboldt both at 342.5’. The fifth tallest is Butress at 341.6 and in sixth it’s Whirlaway at exactly 340.’ I am indebted to Valley resident Patrick Miller for leading me to this invaluable research carried out by the Native Tree Society. The Society’s members have complied a list of the 222 confirmed Coastal Redwoods over 350 feet. Plus a list of those in the 340’ class – in which the six above appear. Here are the current top three and past tallest:

1. 379.46ft - Called ‘Hyperion’, in the Redwood National Park, listed as the World’s Tallest Tree since 2006.

2. 376.41ft – ‘Helios’, in the Redwood N.P., and ranked as the world’s tallest tree from 7/1/2006 to 8/25/2006.

3. 372.3ft – ‘Stratosphere’, in Humboldt Redwoods State Park and world’s tallest tree from 2000 to 2006.

4. (Now ranked 11th tallest) 368.2ft ‘Mendocino’, in Montgomery Woods State Reserve, and world’s tallest from 1996 to 2000.

5. (Now ranked 34th tallest) 362.8ft ‘Libby’ (A.K.A. Tall), Redwood N.P. and the titleholder for world’s tallest from 1963-1996.

       Fascinating ‘stuff’ eh?... Check out all this and much more at either

www.landmarktrees.net/tall.html or

http://www.ents-bbs.org/viewtopic.php?t=4440&p=18791

       Inevitably there is only one area to delve into for your Quotes of the Week on this occasions – that of “God’s First Temples” – a phrase used to describe groves of trees by William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878), an American romantic poet, journalist, and long-time editor of the New York Evening Post… There is this from American poet, Lucy Larcom (1824-1893), “He who plants a tree, plants hope”… A ludicrous comment from former President Reagan, pretty much summing him up despite what revisionist history’s views of this man may have you believe – “If you’ve seen one Redwood tree, you’ve seen them all”… And let’s finish with a far more intelligent comment from Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), a Bengali polymath who reshaped his region's literature and music, becoming the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913, who observed, “Trees are the earth’s endless effort to speak to the listening heaven”…

       Moving humbly on… Public Service Announcements… Calendars and pens at the ready… #652 - The Vets from Mendocino Animal Hospital will return to the Farm Supply tomorrow – Thursday, Mar 28. If you have left it to late on this occasion, be aware that if you are a previous client you can call them 48 hours in advance (462-8833) to ensure that your pet’s charts are brought ‘over the hill’ and also order any medications your pet might need. New customers and their pets are always welcome. They will be back twice in April – on Thursdays 11 and 25… #653 – The A.V. Lions Club will resume their annual fund-raising activities on Sunday March 31 when their Easter Breakfast will take place from 8am – 11am in The Apple Hall at The Fairgrounds in Boonville. This year’s event will benefit the Future Farmer’s of America (F.F.A.) and will be followed at noon sharp by the Easter Egg Hunt for kids from pre-school thru’ 4th-grade in the lawn area behind the Hall…

       As a bonus P.S.A. here is the menu for the next week at the Senior Center at the Veterans Hall in Boonville… The Center asks for a $5 donation from Seniors and charges $7 for Non-Seniors for lunches… Tomorrow, Thursday, March 28, the lunch, served at 12.15pm, will be Lemon Chicken, Wild Rice, Brussels Sprouts, Spinach & Strawberry Salad, Triple Chocolate Dessert … Then next Tuesday, April 2, the lunch served by Marti Titus and her crew will be Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Carrots, Rolls, Wild Rice & Arugula salad, Raspberry Gelatin, birthday Cupcakes... Hope to see you there…

       Moving quickly on to a few of the topics and Valley events under discussion this week at The Three-Dot Lounge – yes it’s “Moans, Groans, Good Thoughts, and Rampant Rumors” from my favorite gathering place in the Valley where people get together and share their thoughts about Valley life…

… The ‘All that Good Stuff’ store has moved and is open for business in the SoBo district of downtown (next to firehouse)…

… Here’s a few of my ‘objective’ selections for various Valley honors that were shared with 3-Dot regulars over the past week… The Valley’s Best Cesar Salad is served at Lauren’s Restaurant – I may not have tried everyone’s but it just is … Worst Valley ‘hobby’ – letting your dog run alongside your truck on as you drive along the backroads – the somewhat inevitable result has occurred too many times… Best fresh-laid ‘real’ eggs – at the A.V. High School Ag class… Best draft Guinness – The Buckhorn… Hardest working volunteer – a very competitive category but I have to go with Sheri Hansen of both the Senior Center and A.V. Historical Society… Best Annual ‘Valley Folks’ event – the two crab feeds… Most Irritating Valley phrase – “Oh, I don’t watch television”… Runner-up – “He/she did a poor job but he/she is such a nice person”… Most Pleasing Valley phrase – “If there is anything I can do to help, let me know”…

… A number of Three-Dot regulars are wondering why none of the winery’s frost protecting ‘helicopter-like’ fans have been heard this spring. Obviously the wineries have had relatively few frosts to deal with but there have been some cold nights and yet no deafening fans waking up the ‘neighborhoods’… Perhaps the wineries have installed new fans or even changed their frost protection techniques? I don’t know what the answer is, but either way the result is a far more civilized way to co-exist…

… Talking of wineries, and bearing in mind the recent additions and subtractions, here is my most recent Tasting Room Count… My research leads me to believe we shall soon have 30 tasting rooms between Yorkville and Navarro… As an occasional wine-sipper and friend of many folks in the industry at various levels, I sincerely wish each of them success… However, there must be concern that this density of tasting rooms will work against all of them surviving over time – unless of course somebody builds a motel in the Valley to house the guests needed to support them all… But that’s a discussion for another time…

       Well now I think it’s time to take my leave… So, until we talk again – ‘Keep the Faith’; be careful out there; stay out of the ditches; think good thoughts; and may your god go with you… Oh, and of course, one final request, “Let us prey”… Humbly yours, Turkey Vulture…

p.s. You can contact me with words of support/abuse either through the Letters Page or by e-mail at <turkeyvulture1@earthlink.net>

p.p.s. On the sheep, Grace…