Damnation Grove Redwoods

chris_girard

Treehouser
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Jul 28, 2007
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1,535
Location
Gilmanton, N.H.
Just stumbled upon another good logging novel about the tale end of the logging of the old growth Redwoods. The book is written by a young lady who used to live out there and seems to know what she's writing about, though I never knew about the herbicide spraying program that the logging used to use? Below is a outline of what the book is about:


Not a lot of guys are born to do something.

"For generations, Rich Gundersen’s family has chopped a livelihood out of the redwood forest along California’s rugged coast near Damnation Grove, a swath of ancient redwoods on which Rich’s employer, Sanderson Timber Co., plans to make a killing. In 1977, with most of the forest cleared or protected, a grove like Damnation – and beyond it 24-7 Ridge, named for the diameter of its largest redwood, a tree Rich was born to harvest – is a logger’s dream.

It’s dangerous work. Rich has already lived decades longer than his father, killed on the job. Rich wants better for his son, so when the opportunity arises to buy 24-7 Ridge – costing all the savings they’ve squirreled away for their growing family – he grabs it, unbeknownst to his wife, Colleen. Because the reality is their family isn’t growing; Colleen has lost several pregnancies. And she isn’t alone. As a midwife, Colleen has seen it with her own eyes.

For decades, the herbicides the logging company uses were considered harmless. But Colleen is no longer so sure. What if these miscarriages aren’t isolated strokes of bad luck? As mudslides take out clear-cut hillsides and salmon vanish from creeks, her search for answers threatens to unravel not just Rich’s plans for the 24-7, but their marriage too, dividing a town that lives and dies on timber."

Here's a link to the author's webpage:
Ash Davidson

So far it's been a really good read.

I'm sure Jerry can tell us a whole lot more about Damnation Creek and the misty Redwoods that are within that grove. If you guys want to check out some awesome photos of the grove, just look in his coffee table Redwoods picture book, they're in there!
 
Oh, yeah. Damnation Creek. Nice hike. Steep, thousand-foot high bluffs right over the ocean. Hardly a day goes by without the fog misting through the trees and sunbeams (god rays) shining through. Truly magical place.

I lived in Crescent City. 7 miles north of Damnation Summit. Back in the 70s and early 80 the companies were using 24-D to keep the Blueblossum down. (Ceanothus) Too many complaints and suits. So they quit using it.

24-D is the same as Agent Orange. Anybody that went to the Nam was exposed to it. No escaping it. It was in the air and on everything. Hard to nail down precisely how it affected people. Weighing in sensitivity and amount of exposure and all. Studies showed it was bad ju ju all the way around. So they quit using it.
 
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That's right Jer, the timber grows back. And from that awesome photo that you posted above, the Redwoods look like they're doing just fine.

Still any "outlaws" left n Navarro?
 
Logging does not reduce the impact of fires, or viceversa, though, in the grand scheme, outside salvage logging, i don't think.

They are cumulative.

Do you agree or disagree, @gf beranek?
 
Just a little fyi 2,4d is still being used in the states, any jackass can buy it and do what ever they please with it, but of course no one ever uses chemicals off label. I'm not saying all people that buy 24d are jackasses just uneducated or ignorant.
 
The stuff that is available 'over the counter' is shocking.
I dont know why but homeowners don't seem to read entire labels. The damage I see from inappropriate use of herbicides is constant.
 
I still have an unopened bottle of DDT....

LOML'S dad had it in the garage, found it after he passed. I grabbed it so one of her dumbass nephews didn't. I'm very familiar with it, my grandpa used it in his apple orchard.
Honestly, I have no idea how to get rid of it..

Ed
 
A lot of places have a hazmat disposal site you can take stuff to. They have a 'collection day' around here once a year to get rid of old chemicals. Not sure exactly how it works, cause I never had anything. I should look in the basement though. I know there's some garden chemicals down there that should be disposed of.
 
I still have an unopened bottle of DDT....

LOML'S dad had it in the garage, found it after he passed. I grabbed it so one of her dumbass nephews didn't. I'm very familiar with it, my grandpa used it in his apple orchard.
Honestly, I have no idea how to get rid of it..

Ed

We have Haz Mat services here every 3 months. We take all of our used batteries, light bulbs, aerosol cans, etc. You just pull up to the guys in haz mat suits and stay in your car and they unload everything. It's a great service, and free. DDT is bad stuff to have around. My mother and her 4 siblings were born on a homestead in Oregon where DDT was used extensively...... they all died in their 50's of bone cancer and DDT is suspected but not proven to be the cause. Be careful with that stuff.
 
Lowes takes batteries and light bulbs fo free, there are some blue metal things usually by customer service area that you drop them in.
 
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