A MIGHTY BIG HUG FOR A MIGHTY TREE

摘要

Could epoxy save the nation's tallest Sitka spruce? How about cement? Perhaps restuffing the rotted cavity with new wood? Those are some of the suggestions Steve Meshke, Clatsop County parks director, has heard since news spread that the treasured "Klootchy Creek Giant" could be making its last stand. Two weeks ago, windstorms rocked loose a scar of rotted wood from a decades-old lightning strike, creating a hole at least a foot and a half wide by 20 feet long. The 204-foot tree is now so weak it could fall at any time, Meshke said. At least part of it must come down, he said, though he and arborists have yet to decide the details. In the meantime, the county has fenced off the area at Klootchy Creek Park, southeast of Seaside, where the tree continues to draw the curious. And the ideas to save it stream in.