Like the Ewoks, but More Pungent – Bill Donahue

Rating: ***

 

            When I saw a picture of a man made, redneck looking tree fort, I knew I had to read the article and see what it was all about.

            Like the Ewoks, but More Pungent, is a little article on environmentalists camping out in trees as an effort to prolong their lives. All around the world, trees of all types and ages are being cut down no matter how spectacular they are. When it was announced that the U.S. Forest Service had auctioned off some of the nation’s last standing 200-foot old growth trees, a group of 150 members came together to find a way to save the trees. They called themselves the Red Cloud Thunder and planned to rotate camping in various trees in an area of these great trees to keep them from being cut down. They had constructed various systems with pulleys and rope for exchanging items through trees and gathering things in buckets from the ground. The RCTers had appointed each of the occupied trees with names such as Guardian, Friendly, Grandma and Happy. Along with various other trees, the members of the RCT had constructed a community of environmentalists who enjoyed what they were doing and were passionate about the cause. This “community” receives numerous visits from the Forest Service Rangers and media but as one of the members states, “… as long as we’re in the trees, they can’t cut ‘em down.”

               I found the article to be really powerful and it demonstrates just how far people are willing to go for something they are passionate about. The dismembering of trees from their habitat is an ongoing problem all over the world, and unless the trees are protected, they can be cut down by any company who buys them for the highest price. Trees are a part of everyone’s lives and if company’s who specialise in cutting down forests have their way; there will be no trees left. The RCTers know the extreme consequences of this problem and are doing us all a favor by devoting their time to conserving such a beautiful part of nature.

               This article has inspired me to take charge, and protect the things I’m passionate about because once they take your passion away from you, your left with a hole inside, unable to be filled and no one deserves to have that.

Donahue, Bill. “Like the Ewoks, but More Pungent.” Outside: Volume 24, Number 3 (March 1999): 32-34. Print.