Virginia: Big Mama, one of the last giant Bald Cypress has died

The Washington Post ran a sad story a couple weeks ago about the death
of an old tree. An ancient bald cypress tree dating back 1,000 years
or more had met its demise in a remote swamp 80 miles southeast of
Richmond. Dubbed “Big Mama,” the largest tree in Virginia towered over
Cypress Bridge, a swamp in the Nottoway River.

The Post reported that
Byron Carmean, a retired horticulture teacher who “discovered” Big
Mama in fall 2005, estimated her age to be between 1,500 and 2,000
years. The 40 acres of virgin wilderness where Big Mama lives is so
remote that its existence had not been reported until 2005, according
to the article. The shocking portion of the story appeared in the last
sentence—a simple, declarative sentence that put Big Mama’s death into
context. “All but 1 percent of cypress-tupelo forests have been cut
in the Southeast, experts say.” Maybe I’m naive, but I wasn’t prepared
for that. I understand humans have cut down huge portions of forests
in the United States. But to learn that 99% of the cypress-tupelo
forests have disappeared caused quite a jolt. One blogger, The
Tidewater Gardener, had an opposite reaction, expressing surprise that
virgin wilderness still exists in Virginia. “Though her age and size
were impressive, I find the fact that there are still 40 acres of
virgin wilderness left anywhere in this state, or even on the east
coast more impressive. Left to mourn her departure are hopefully
thousands of offspring and more than a few tree huggers,” the
Tidewater Gardener wrote. Also, notice how the “1% passage” in the
Post article is written in the passive voice: “Cypress-tupelo forests
have been cut.” Most Journalism 101 courses teach reporters to write
in active voice. Probably out of habit, the author of the story
thought it would sound awkward to write, “Humans have cut all but 1
percent of the cypress-tupelo forests in the U.S. Southeast, experts
say. http://www.pressaction.com/news/weblog/full_article/bigmama12142008/

Posted via email from Deane’s posterous