Our goals are to give people the experience of recreational tree climbing in old-growth trees, and also provide education about the unique ecology of these ecosystems while having fun. It is important to us that people enjoy a unique climbing adventure and that they also see the benefits of a larger tree climbing industry, that when done properly has no harm to the trees and teaches that we can utilize trees in a way that does not mean cutting them down for logging. We also want people to learn about the importance of protecting and preserving forest so it can turn into old-growth forest for future generations and wildlife. We believe recreational tree climbing can have a regenerative impact on our environment, by created a deeper kinder bond to nature.

 

The trees we climb at Silver Falls State Park would be considered young old-growth trees. They are between 400 and 600 years old. While there are many definitions of what constitutes an old-growth tree, we use the simplified definition that an old-growth tree was already established before Europeans arrived in North America. Less than 4% of the United States' original forests remain. According to the World Resources Institute, less than 1% of "frontier forests"—large, contiguous virgin forests with all species intact—still exist in the lower 48 states.

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Old-growth forests play a very important role in the health of planet Earth. They provide habitat for specific species of animals and plants, adding to the biodiversity that is important for adapting to environmental and climate changes. They also help reduce and decrease the severity of forest fires. Old-Growth help reduce local temperatures, keep for the forest floor more wet by providing shade and retaining moisture through it roots. Old-growth trees are much more likely to survive forest fires because of their size. That is why you often see old-growth trees that have live 500-2000 years with many burn marks. So in the past when a forest fire goes through a forest it burns the ground material and smaller trees but the majority of the forest's biomass and habitat, the old-growth trees, would still be around for animal habitat. Unfortunately most of our forests are logged timber land, full of small over crowded unhealthy trees, that usually completely burns down like matchsticks during a forest fire. So when there is a forest fire, the absence of old-growth trees is just one more reason, out of many, that forest fires are unusually  more sever than in the past.

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We are just beginning to understand the importance old-growth trees play in the ecosystem, but we now know that they play a major part in many roles. Unfortunately we have already destroyed most of our old-growth "virgin" forest in the United States.  The positive side is, we know what needs to be done and we can choose to change things for the better. We know we need to protect them and preserve more forest with the intention to create old-growth forest ecosystems for the future. All of our small choices matter, and we can decided!