My July visit to Founders Grove quickly brought to mind the figure of speech “spitting” or “pissing in the wind” after reading signs to stay off logs, so wood can naturalize new vegetation growth on top. The intentions are good , but it seems like a futile effort after observing visitors. Even if 90 people stayed off logs, there must have been 4, 5 or 6 others walking on downed logs for every 90 who refrained. The important thing is not 5 or 6 log walkers per hour. It’s the 6 x 10 hours x 30 days = 1800 per month.  At that rate,  27,000 people staying off a log is irrelevant, because 1800 sufficiently wipe the slate of regeneration clean. What does this tell us? What does this mean?

1. Maybe too many signs is a waste of money, or even an eye-sore 2. Maybe it’s better to promote climbing on certain sacrificial logs 3. Maybe some actions can’t be controlled without complete restriction of an area

The photo below shows the Dyerville Giant at Founders Grove. A fallen giant that was over 399 feet tall. It was reported that mud or soil splashed up on other trunks as high as 40 to 50 feet. Even though it fell in 1991, I was curious whether reported soil may still remain in nearby  bark furrows. And … there was some. Not just dust, but some too gritty to just be wind-blown dust.

Dyerville Giant Coast Redwood