New York Times Archives

AP Photo/Redwood National and State Parks, Laura DennHacking off redwood burls leaves the tree open to infection, and eliminates its main means of reproduction. — AP Photo/Redwood National and State Parks, Laura Denn
Hacking off redwood burls leaves the tree open to infection, and eliminates its main means of reproduction.

The New York Times is raising the alarm on redwood poaching.

Redwoods that have stood like sentinels for a thousand years or more are being brutalized by poachers, their burls hacked off and sold. There have been at least 18 known cases of burl poaching from redwoods in the past year, forcing the closing of one California state highway at night, with more to follow.

“It’s not just a property crime,” said Brett Silver, supervising ranger for Redwood National and State Parks in California, to The New York Times. “It’s a legacy, like hacking up a church.”

This the Yurok certainly feel, regarding redwoods as “sacred living beings” that “stand as guardians over our sacred places,” the tribe says on its website.

Burls range in size from small enough to be crafted into salt and pepper shakers, as The New York Times points out, to large enough to weigh hundreds of pounds and be fashioned into furniture. The slabs of raw wood that are used to make furniture can sell for hundreds or even thousands of dollars each, The New York Times said.

In March, the National Park Service announced it would close the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway at night to try and hamper the operations, which tend to be conducted under cover of darkness. While the poaching of wood in general is not new, a slow economy combined with an increase in methamphetamine use have made poachers bolder, the newspaper said.

“They have been targeting ever-bigger burls and using increasingly brazen tactics,” The New York Times reported. “Last year, a redwood estimated to be 400 years old was felled by thieves who wanted access to a 500-pound burl 60 feet up.”

Burls are essential to a redwood’s reproduction, the National Park Service said.

“Burl is a woody material full of un-sprouted bud tissue,” the NPS said in a leaflet about the trees. “It serves as a storage compartment for the genetic code of the parent tree. If the redwood falls or is damaged, the burl may sprout another redwood tree known as a clone.”

Read Poachers Attack Beloved Elders of California, Its Redwoods in The New York Times.

Mitsitam Native Foods Cafe at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in Washinton, D.C. (mitsitamcafe.com)

Indian Country Today Media Network Staff

The best dining option on the National Mall is Mitsitam Native Foods Cafe at the National Museum of the American Indian, according to a review of all dining options on Capital Hill by Jennifer Steinhauer of The New York Times.

Steinhauer tells visitors to avoid food at the newly constructed Capitol Visitor Center, “and head to the National Museum of the American Indian, which has the best food on the Mall.”

Mitsitam Native Foods Café is no stranger to praise. Last summer, it was honored by the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington with a Rammy Award on June 24. It was the first museum restaurant to receive a Rammy nomination. The eatery also recently put out an award-winning cookbook.

The Zagat-rated restaurant showcases a refined, seasonal menu of foods that have been grown, raised and harvested in North and South America for thousands of years, from Peruvian ceviche to pork tacos. Mitsitam means “let’s eat” in the Piscataway and Delaware languages, and the café stays true to its Native focus, drawing on tribal culinary traditions.

Read more about the meals Executive Chef Richard Hetzler prepares with Native-sourced ingredients, like bison through the InterTribal Bison Cooperativeand salmon from the Quinault Indian Nation in Taholah, Washington here.

Tag: New York Times

New York Times Raises the Alarm on Redwood Poaching

New York Times Calls Mitsitam Cafe Best Food on the National Mall