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What Secrets?
When I first saw the coastal redwoods in California in 1968, I really wasn't impressed. I drove through them and went on my way. No big-deal, I thought, what's the fuss. I look back on that now as just a young kid without a clue.
I learned about redwoods much later, and the more Iearned, the more I found I didn't know. They're complex forests that weed-out competitors, maintain their own watering system, create their own fog blanket in summer, keep themselves warm in winter.
Most of this we, as a species, didn't know until recently, and only after we'd cut almost all of them down. Less than 2.5% of the old-growth remain, and I feel somewhat cheated out of a legacy.
The groves remaining are few, but my passion for these forests remains abundant.
This original mural now hangs in the museum at Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, just about my favorite place to 'walk in the woods.'
Larry Eifert
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