By Paul Fattig

TILLER — A reward has been offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of vandals who may have struck a death blow to one of the world’s tallest sugar pines over the weekend.

"We’re shocked, sickened and angry by the whole thing," said Liz Stevenson-Shaw, spokeswoman for the Umpqua National Forest, which is offering the $500 reward.

The vandals girdled the giant tree, stripping away a band of bark and vital layers from around its base.

The tree stands 265 feet tall and is 7˝ feet across at the base. Biologists estimate it is at least 400 years old. The tree is about 24 miles north of Trail, in the Tiller Ranger District.

In comparison, the trunk of the toppled Mammoth Pine in the Prospect Ranger District of the Rogue River National Forest is about 224 feet long, with a base diameter of 7 feet 11 inches. That sugar pine is believed to have succumbed to an infestation of mountain pine beetles in the 1960s.

A sugar pine in Yosemite National Park in California is the tallest at 270 feet high, according to the National Register of Big Trees maintained by the American Forestry Association. It was measured in 1991.

For many years, the large sugar pine in the Tiller Ranger District was believed to be the world’s tallest and was a favorite tourist stop because of its easy access along Jackson Creek Road, Stevenson-Shaw said.

The concern is that the vandalism girdled the thin but vital cambium layer between the wood and the bark, she said.

"It was girdled all the way around — there was fresh sap coming out," said Lori Depew, recreation and trails specialist for the district.

The vandals apparently used a chainsaw, but the depth of the cut varied around the tree, she said, adding, "We’re hoping the tree will survive."

A timber faller from the Tiller area reported the vandalism late Sunday morning.

In addition to the tree vandalism, vandals burned the Railroad Gap shelter late last week at the southernmost edge of the Tiller Ranger District in northern Jackson County, Depew said.

A shelter known as Camp Comfort had also been burned during the first week in November, she said.

"We’ve always had some vandalism, but nothing this serious," she said.

Anyone with information about the vandalism of the big tree or the shelters is urged to contact the ranger district at 541-825-3201.

Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at pfattig@mailtribune.com 

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