LEARN ABOUT CENTRAL OREGON’S Trees & Share YOUR KNOWLEDGE BELOW FOR THE CHANCE TO SCORE A HALF-DAY TOUR!

Soon Wanderlust Tours will begin our fall tours to see amazing changing leaves in stunning forest and river ecosystems around the Bend area. Recognizing the severe fires in Oregon as this post is made, we invite you to please join us for uplifting and engaging experiences amidst nature's grandeur.

Trees inspire me to the point that it may be clinically looked at with a raised eyebrow. However, that would be a mistaken viewpoint because trees are the essence of life on earth providing profound benefit to all living things. Here's a few ways to look at trees that may be new to you.

Quick- what are the 4 ingredients to photosynthesis?

Did you get CO2, H2O, solar radiance and the green stuff- chlorophyll? That goes back to 4th grade learning about how trees and plants produce food for themselves in the form of a carbohydrate/sugar and in turn produce oxygen for all living breathing things on earth. I hope that inspires you to love trees and actively work to promote planting more! But, of course, there is more, so much more! 

In taking in the CO2, the O2 is released for living creatures to breathe in while the carbon molecules are sequestered by the tree, that is, held inside of it as it grows and ages. In turn this helps us understand that trees mitigate greenhouse gases that otherwise trap heat in our atmosphere- so dang SWEET! 

Our state tree is the Douglas Fir, such a lovely species and one which has helped our cities grow by providing lumber for our homes in which we live. Holy buckets though, the tree provides home for so MANY living species. Here's one to highlight, the Oregon Slender Salamander.

When a Doug fir loses its life and crashes to the forest floor, its life is surely not done. It continues to provide life for so many living things. The slender salamander is one of those.

In the tiny spaces within the tree that open up as rot begins to take over the horizontal structure, the salamander finds its denizen. Having no lungs and never drinking a drop of water, it garners its life from the moist tree trunk. Water from the rain-soaked and massive bulk passes through the salamander's skin as does oxygen. The female releases her eggs in the shelter of the rotting tree and there nurses the young, metamorphosing salamanders wrapping her body around the eggs. From their yolk sacks they gain their initial nutrients. Such amazing processes, enabled from a "dead" tree! 

Moving to a fun and thought-provoking activity, you are invited to ponder how trees and humans are similar. One way is the roots of trees interconnect with one another to provide a network of support for each other. Humans are rooted in connection with one another to provide support. See the trivia query below to play along!

DAVE
OWNER | Naturalist Guide

WANDERLUST TRIVIA

Congrats to Jason B. & Lori N. for sharing the connection between Trees and Humans! See below for their answers.

Trees and humans are similar in that individually we are more vulnerable, while not weak, we are much stronger standing with one another, like a stand of trees. In a wind storm a stand of trees is less buffered and vulnerable to the environment and storm situations. Together we make a difference to our socio political environment like a stand of trees makes a difference to our air quality and natural environment. Together we are better. 

Jason B.

Both humans and trees start with one tiny seed which must be planted and nourished in order to grow. Trees and humans have a circulatory system to keep them alive. Both are rooted on the earth while alive, both decompose and return to dust when they die. Some trees and humans live to be old and are weather worn or even gnarled with the effects of aging; some trees and humans die young before having a chance to fully mature. Some trees stay scrawny and never reach their full potential as do some humans. Other trees become majestic wonders of the forest just as some humans become outstanding and never forgotten. Trees have sap, humans have blood. Trees are distinguishable by their bark, leaves or needles; humans are distinguishable by DNA and fingerprints. Trees and humans come in all different sizes and shapes; both are diverse and all are valuable. Mature trees and humans offer shelter for animals to be secure, nurtured and taken care of. Both trees and humans require gas to stay alive. Both have "skin" to protect the deeper layers. Both require sunshine, water and "air" to stay vibrant and thriving. Trees and humans dance, sway, flitter in the wind, moan, groan and ache and sometimes break. Both are resilient to natural hardships and fight to stay alive. Trees and humans both need space to spread out and grow; neither will thrive when crowded or inhibited. Trees and humans need each other in a sweet symbiotic relationship; neither will be able to live without the other. I wonder if trees love humans as much as I love trees. 

-Lori N.

Fall Tours

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