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dixiegrrrrl

(60,010 posts)
Tue Apr 26, 2016, 09:48 AM Apr 2016

World's oldest tree turns 4,847 this year and is in a top-secret location

because the world's 2nd oldest tree was cut down by a grad student in 1964.!


Even if people have laid eyes on the world's oldest tree, there's a good chance they didn't realize it. That's because the United States Forest Service keeps all information about the 4,847-year-old Great Basin bristlecone pine — including its exact location — completely under wraps to protect it from any potential vandals, loggers, and researchers who may be interested in chopping it down.

The tree, known as Methuselah, is rumored to be located somewhere on a mountain in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, part of Inyo National Forest in California. Even with that hint, searchers would be hard pressed to find the tree, however. The Forest Service refuses to release even as much as a picture of the tree out of fear that may happen.

While it might sound zany to be so protective over a tree, the Forest Service admittedly has good reason. The New York Times reports that the world's former oldest-known tree, an ancient pine in Nevada's Great Basin National Park, got chopped down by a graduate student in 1964:

There are a few accounts of what happened: The student, Donald R. Currey, said in a PBS documentary that the normal approach to coring a tree was not working and that he wasn't experienced enough to know what to do, so he cut it down with the help of some foresters. Members of the forest service said he got his drill bit stuck in the tree, and so he and the foresters cut it down to remove his tool.
http://tinyurl.com/hvwzhy9
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World's oldest tree turns 4,847 this year and is in a top-secret location (Original Post) dixiegrrrrl Apr 2016 OP
of course it has to be kept secret because some dumb ass somewhere would have to kill it sue4e3 Apr 2016 #1
I can visualize some dentist drolling in his spit cup packman Apr 2016 #2
I seem to remember reading the dentist did not get to keep anything from the hunt. dixiegrrrrl Apr 2016 #4
Why I Collected a Moustached Kingfisher XemaSab Apr 2016 #11
There is another perspective, tho dixiegrrrrl Apr 2016 #12
probably did,There is a tree in NJ (over 600 years old) , used to be sort of a local tourist sue4e3 Apr 2016 #6
I saw some of those old trees. oldandhappy Apr 2016 #3
I wonder if I met Methuselah... tk2kewl Apr 2016 #5
LOL, when I read this, padfun Apr 2016 #7
It is sickening that these protections have be in place awoke_in_2003 Apr 2016 #8
K&R awoke_in_2003 Apr 2016 #9
ty, awoke. dixiegrrrrl Apr 2016 #10
 

packman

(16,296 posts)
2. I can visualize some dentist drolling in his spit cup
Tue Apr 26, 2016, 10:35 AM
Apr 2016

Last edited Tue Apr 26, 2016, 07:07 PM - Edit history (1)

dreaming about making a 2 x 4 out of that tree and mounting it on the wall next to the head of Cecil The Lion (did he get to keep that head?)

dixiegrrrrl

(60,010 posts)
4. I seem to remember reading the dentist did not get to keep anything from the hunt.
Tue Apr 26, 2016, 11:53 AM
Apr 2016

I DO remember also reading very recently of the discovery of a rare thought to be extinct bird on some Island, which was then killed to "study it".

sue4e3

(731 posts)
6. probably did,There is a tree in NJ (over 600 years old) , used to be sort of a local tourist
Tue Apr 26, 2016, 12:00 PM
Apr 2016

attraction now it's all blocked off and unless you just remember where and what it is ,you wouldn't know . I took my kids to see it and and you could only see it from a distance. To keep vandals and people trying to poison it away. It's sickening

oldandhappy

(6,719 posts)
3. I saw some of those old trees.
Tue Apr 26, 2016, 10:53 AM
Apr 2016

They are wonderful the way they keep growing. I forget why it is that the Bristlecone Pine is long lived. Hang in there Methuselah. Use your invisibility cloak!

padfun

(1,780 posts)
7. LOL, when I read this,
Tue Apr 26, 2016, 12:55 PM
Apr 2016

I figured it was in NE Nevada in the Great Basin Desert. And knew it was Bristlecone Pine.

I'll bet it is located on a Mountain that is over 10,000 feet high and located about 30-40 miles SE of Ely, Nevada. Kind of near the Utah border. But also away from the other Bristlecone Pine's that people go up there to see.

If you like desert environments, it is a great place to visit or even camp out on that Mountain for a few nights. There are campgrounds there.

 

awoke_in_2003

(34,582 posts)
8. It is sickening that these protections have be in place
Tue Apr 26, 2016, 01:30 PM
Apr 2016

but am glad they are. I would love to see it, though.

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