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Photo by Andrew Renfro/Highlands Cashiers Land Trust An unknown person felled a mature red oak tree at the top of the old road bed as you first walk to Sunset Rock.
On Tuesday, March 22, the Highlands Cashiers Land Trust received a call about a fallen Red Oak Tree at Sunset Rock. Upon investigation, the land trust filed a police report for vandalization.
“A woman called our office on Tuesday afternoon and told us about the tree being cut down,” HCLT stewardship coordinator Andrew Renfro said. “She was curious as to why it was cut and if we did it. We did not cut it down, and it turned out to be an act of vandalism. I hopped in the truck, rode out there and sure enough, right there at the top of the old road bed where the upper parking is, there was a felled oak tree.”
The age of the tree has not been calculated yet, but Renfro believes it is to be about 75 years old.
“I need to go out there and do a cleaner cut, because you can’t tell the exact age,” Renfro said. “But the rings that I was able to count calculate it to be in the range of 75 years. It could very well be an old growth tree. The trees up there growing on that ridgetop are subject to a lot more of the extremes of the elements, so it is hard to tell exactly how old it is. If it were standing it would have been better so we could get a core tap, and get the raw age of it, but it’s too late for that.”
There are several reasons, Renfro said, that this tree was important to the ecosystem.
“Being a red oak, it provided a canopy for the overall parking area,” Renfro said. “Additional sunlight will get down there. The tree also provided a habitat for insects, mammals and things like that and it also provided a food source. With red oak being a non-wind borne species, which means they are dispersed by animals moving acorns, they are not as prevalent in forests. So, it is definitely a loss up there. Stephanie and I are going to have to go up there sometime this week and cut it up and dispose of it.”
This isn’t the first time Sunset Rock has been vandalized, but Renfro said they are still wondering what the reasoning was behind this particular incident.
“It really is perplexing,” Renfro said. “What was someone thinking when they chopped that tree down? There’s a cut on it about six feet up from the base, so was someone trying to get firewood? If that was the case, there are several other places you could get that. Were they trying to fell the tree down the trail to hit our kiosk? Potentially, but with the cut it is hard to say. Or, were they up there with a chainsaw and just doing it for fun? Some people have asked me if they did it to increase parking or maybe they had to cut it because they got their car stuck, but none of those reasons seem feasible.”
For the visitors that come to Sunset Rock and other HCLT properties, Renfro advises them to remember what the HCLT’s mission is.
“You have to be cognisant of what we protect and what we do,” Renfro said. “We protect wild places. It doesn’t mean we are preventing people from going to these wild places, but the leave no traces principle is always important. Make sure you pack out what you bring in. Also, there are five employees that work for the land trust, and we have 3,400 acres of property in our responsibility, so eyes and ears are incredibly important. If there is ever a question if someone is up there doing something they shouldn’t be doing I encourage folks not to hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. Utlilizing the community as eyes and ears is incredibly important and definitely helps us greatly in managing all visitors and people that come to experience these incredible places.”
For those that may have any information on the felled red oak tree, email andrew.hitrust@earthlink.net.
- By Christopher Lugo