The Dana “Reserve” is an oxymoron, since it reserves nothing. More than 3,000 native California quercus agrifolia, which have lived free in the land of their ancestors for millennia, are to be sacrificed on the altar of lucre. Take a deep breath, and it is air they have filtered. Walk beneath their canopy, take a nap in their shade, collect and process their acorns into cakes, and tell me they have no value! How can a people and a nation be so shortsighted? Our grandchildren’s grandchildren deserve better!
We now must part with heavy heart;
Farewell, oh oaken forest!
‘Neath thy cool canopy,
We once breathed free!
Oh, what you displayed before us!
With grateful hearts we now depart
With gratitude and song;
For we’ll not again
Stroll through thy glen
‘Neath scent of leaves and birdsong
Hark! Forest green, though now unseen,
Thou ancient oaken forest!
Your treetops hewn,
Before us strewn;
Your death is now before us.
Stephen Siemsen
Orcutt
This article appears in Nov 28 – Dec 8, 2024.
