Ascending the Giants

I recently watched an Oregon Public Broadcasting video on YouTube called "The search for Oregon's tallest tree".

This video was originally aired on OPB in October 2017.

 

Note: I am obviously not an expert on trees. This is just my layman opinion.

Missing the Forest for the Trees

I could not believe what I was watching. They documented a pair of gentlemen who seek out the tallest trees in Oregon, and, in the name of "accuracy of measurement," climb all the way up to the crown of these trees. Not only do they climb all the way to the crown of these trees, but, at least some of the time, two guys climb up to the crown at the same time. Let's get this point out of the way: there's no scientific basis for them to be up there in the first place! The video documents these climbers also measuring the height of the tree from the ground, with laser precision. I am completely against the idea of anyone climbing these rare, valuable, ancient, and delicate trees, and especially when there's no justification for climbing them. These trees are hundreds of years old, may live for hundreds more, and thus do not belong to these guys. These trees are not theirs to climb.

Yes, it's fascinating to see these guys climb to the top and marvel at how high they are and what a good view they have. And yes, it sure seems like it would be "calming" up there and a nice "place to reflect." But if we take a step back and look at the big picture here... does this make one bit of sense? Why are these "volunteers" climbing to the tops of these trees? Is a slightly more accurate measurement, and the climbers' own enjoyment of the process, really worth the risk to these trees?

Ascending the Giants

The video is centered on "Ascending the Giants," which is "a voluntary group of tree enthusiasts." They are presented as scientists in the video with some sort of altruistic mission. After watching this video and looking around their website, they appear to me to be guys who simply like the thrill of climbing the tallest trees. Their mission statement does not provide any argument supporting their climbing of these trees.

"Ascending the Giants is pursuing an ongoing series of expeditions dedicated to climbing and documenting all aspects of champion trees. Ascending the Giants' goal is to raise awareness of the importance of trees and the sensitive ecosystems that exist in and around them. Making updated accurate measurements and educating to promote champion tree programs will be the greatest tool for the success of these expeditions."

Climbing the trees is not necessary to raise awareness of champion trees. Climbing the trees is not necessary for making updated measurements. Visiting and documenting the tallest trees every few years is definitely useful, and I completely support that aspect of it, but using a laser from the ground is plenty accurate for recording an updated measurement.

"In climbing these remarkable trees, we are completely dedicated to a leave no trace policy. We use only non-invasive methods of ascending trees, and try to leave the tree exactly as we found it."

In the YouTube video, you can see them shoot a line up to the crown of the tree and then test the line by jumping and hanging on it, snapping off a branch somewhere up in the crown (at the 7:41 mark). That is not leaving the tree exactly as they found it.

Hiding Selfishness Behind "Documenting" and "Raising Awareness"

In the video, they show the climbers using a tape measure to record the tree's height. This is completely performative. The precision of a laser measurement from the ground is more than enough, especially since these trees may grow another few inches every year, and these measurements are only being updated annually at most. Again, there is no justification for climbing the tree to take these measurements.

"Documenting" and "raising awareness" of these trees are both good ideas, but climbing them is something else entirely. They can visit the trees, measure their height with a laser, document their health from the ground or from a drone, talk to property owners, lawmakers or other elected officials, logging companies, etc. These are all ways to help these trees without the possibility of physically damaging them.

By the way, saying "there's only a small chance a climbed tree is harmed" doesn't excuse the climbing. If we say there's a 1% chance they harm a tree while climbing it, then there's more than a 50% chance that a tree is harmed over the first 69 climbs. If the chances of harming a tree on a climb are more like 5%, then that number drops to 14 climbs. If Ascending the Giants, or any other climbers, continue to climb these trees over the years, they are certain to eventually damage them. Nobody should be climbing these trees.

In another part of the video (2:08), they say a champion tree they previously climbed had a dead crown 9 years later. The crown of that tree may or may not have been killed by them, but either way it shows the fragility of the crowns of these tall trees. We don't know how fragile the crowns of these trees are because there are so few of them and they haven't been studied over long periods. There's no way to say with confidence that they aren't harming these trees by climbing them. Can the crown of a 150-foot Douglas Fir support the weight of two men without any ill effects? Possibly, and arborists and climbers or other experienced professionals might be reasonably sure of that. But how can we say the same thing about the crown of a 300-foot Douglas Fir? I don't think we can or should assume they would react the same way to climbing activity.

If these guys really love these champion trees they would not be selfishly climbing them and potentially harming them, for no reason other than for the fun of it.