As far as anyone knows, there has only ever been one Sitka spruce of this color. The Haida of the Queen Charlotte Islands named it and considered it sacred. Two hundred years later, when scientists became aware of the tree, they gave it a unique scientific name.
And then a logger-turned-environmentalist cut it down. To protest logging. Go figure.
I'm not giving away the story - John Vaillant begins The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness and Greed with this sad event. It's an intriguing story, and even though it's Vaillant's first book, he writes masterfully. Readers who enjoy Jon Krakauer will like this book. In between the story line, Vaillant offers vivid descriptions of the natural and cultural history of the Canadian pacific coast.
Grant Hadwin was apparently a bit of a cross between Rambo and Edward Abbey, which I know sounds nutty. Those who knew him said that he would disappear into some of the most rugged portions of Canada's pacific forest, carrying just a rifle. He would re-emerge days or weeks later, none the worse for the wear. And although he worked on and off as a logger in his earlier years, he came to see the logging industry as a rapacious and malignant entity. So why cut the tree down? And - in a further mystery - what happened to Grant Hadwin?
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