Poachers Attack Beloved Redwoods
盜採者鎖定紅杉樹節
By Patricia Leigh Brown

REDWOOD NATIONAL AND STATE PARKS, Calif. – It was an unlikely crime scene: a steep trail used by bears leading to a still, ancient redwood grove. There, a rare old-growth coast redwood had been brutally hacked about 15 times by poachers, a chain saw massacre that had exposed the tree’s deep red heartwood.
這是難以想像的犯罪現場：陡峭的熊徑引向一片寧靜的老紅杉林。在那裡，一棵稀有老熟海岸紅杉大約已被盜砍15次。鏈鋸屠戮使它深層的紅色心材曝露在外。

The thieves who butchered this and other 1,000-year-old arboreal giants were after the burls, gnarly protrusions on the trees that are prized for their intricately patterned wood. Although timber theft has long plagued public lands, a recent spate of burl poaching, with 18 known cases in the last year, has forced park officials to close an almost 13-kilometer drive through old-growth forests at night to deter criminals.
屠殺這棵紅杉與其他千年巨樹為的是取得樹節（或稱樹瘤），它是樹木的節狀突出部，因圖案複雜精細而受喜愛。雖然盜採共有林地林木已非一朝一夕，盜採樹節卻於最近暴增（一年來已有18個已知案例），迫使公園管理員入夜後關閉一條經過老熟森林區的13公里車路，以遏阻犯罪。

While some burls are small – perfect for souvenir salt-and-pepper shakers – others are massive and can fetch hundreds or thousands of dollars per slab.
有些樹節很小，是製作鹽罐及胡椒罐的完美材料。有些則重且大，每個厚片可賣得數百到數千美元。

The poachers are motivated by a sluggish local economy and expensive methamphetamine habits, park officials say, and they have been targeting ever-bigger burls and using increasingly brazen tactics. Last year, a redwood estimated to be 400 years old was felled by thieves who wanted access to a 225-kilogram burl 18 meters up. It was the first time an entire tree was cut down for a burl, said Brett A. Silver, the state park’s supervising ranger.
官員說，盜採動機包括當地經濟低迷與染上很花錢的冰毒癮，鎖定的樹節越來越大，方法也越來越大膽。去年，盜採者砍掉一棵估計有400歲的紅杉，要的是18公尺高處一塊重225公斤的樹節。州立公園管理組長塞爾福說，這是為盜採樹節而砍掉整棵樹的首例。

The burl was so massive that the thieves dragged it behind their vehicle, leaving a trail of skid marks. Following the marks, they found the burl stashed beneath an overpass. “How many do we have that we haven’t found?” Mr. Silver said. “It’s not just a property crime. It’s a legacy, like hacking up a church.”
這個樹節非常大，盜採者只能以車輛拖行，留下滑行痕跡。管理員沿著痕跡追查，發現樹節藏在高架道下。塞爾福說：「我們沒發現的還有多少？犯罪行為受害的不只是財產。而是一種遺產，就像破壞一座教堂。」

This 53,500-hectare park, a Unesco World Heritage site, is the repository of a significant portion of the planet’s remaining virgin coast redwoods. The trees thrive only along a narrow, fog-shrouded ribbon of land between the California-Oregon border and Big Sur. The burl wood, with its complex, swirling patterns, is the result of bud tissue that has not sprouted; the park describes it as “a storage compartment for the genetic code of the parent tree.”
加州國家暨州立紅杉公園占地5.35萬公頃，是聯合國教科文組織認證的世界遺產，世上現存原始海岸紅杉有頗大一部分在園內。這些樹木只存活於加州與奧勒岡州交界處與大蘇爾區之間，一處籠罩在霧中的狹長地帶。樹節繁複的旋轉圖案是芽組織未抽條的結果。園方稱它為「母樹基因密碼的貯存部位」。

Old-growth coast redwoods are among the earth’s most tenacious organisms, some living 2,000 years or more. Removing a burl cuts into a tree’s living cambium layer, which can weaken it and make it vulnerable to insects and disease.
老熟海岸紅杉是舉世最頑強生物之一，有些樹齡逾2000年。砍除一個樹節會傷及樹的活體形成層，弱化整棵樹，並使它易受昆蟲與疾病侵害。

Scientists consider burls to be marvels of biodiversity: Giant burls perched above the canopy are habitats for mollusks, salamanders and other creatures. “It’s as if you took a chunk of the forest floor and suspended it into the air,” said Stephen C. Sillett, a professor at Humboldt State University in nearby Arcata.
科學家認為，樹節是生物多樣性的奇觀。巨大的樹節高於樹冠，可供軟體動物、蠑螈與其他生物棲息。附近阿卡塔市韓伯特大學教授席雷特說：「彷彿你取下森林地面的一片，懸掛在空中。」

These days, paranoia runs through places like Orick, which is near the park’s southern entrance and proudly markets itself as a “burlwood capital.” Park investigators have been among the shoppers at places like Burl Bill’s that sell redwood gifts – clocks, bears and unfinished slabs – for $500 to $700 apiece. “Everything here has been dead for hundreds of years,” said Burl Bill, who declined to give his real name.
奧里克位於公園南入口附近，自詡為「樹節之都」。它與一些地方最近風聲鶴唳。公園的調查人員混在商店顧客中查訪，這些店家販賣鐘、熊與未完工厚木片紅木禮品，每件500到700美元，「伯爾‧比爾的店」就是其中之一。不肯透露真名的比爾說：「店裡每件東西都已死亡數百年。」

Because poaching tends to occur at night off established trails, catching a thief in action is rare, said Paul Gallegos, the Humboldt County district attorney. Local culture plays a role in the thefts as well. “People still feel they have a right to extract from the forest to make a living,” Mr. Gallegos said.
韓伯特郡檢察官加雷戈斯說，盜採多發生於夜間無人小徑，很難當場人贓俱獲。當地文化也有影響。加雷戈斯說：「人們至今仍然認為，他們有權從森林中取得生活之資。」

There is a strong global demand. Gary Goby, founder of Goby Walnut and Western Hardwoods in Portland, Oregon, said that a local buyer might sell a burl to a veneer mill overseas, where it will be sliced into thin layers that bring out the wood’s elegant whorls. “Finding a remote buyer over the Internet is easy, unfortunately,” he said.
全球需求強勁。奧勒岡州波特蘭市「戈比胡桃木與西部硬木」創辦人戈比說，在地買家可把樹節賣給海外的飾板加工廠，工廠再把它切成薄片，露出樹木的優美渦紋。他說：「不幸的是，透過網路找到遠方的買家很容易。」

Hiking through moist ferns to a ravaged redwood the other day, Jeff Denny, the state park’s redwood coast sector supervisor, observed that the titans in his midst had survived lightning, fire, high winds and other natural disasters, but poachers with chain saws were something else entirely. Consumers need to be aware of a burl’s source, he said, and “ask the tough question: Where does it come from?”
州立公園的紅杉海岸組長丹尼某日徒步通過潮濕的蕨類植物群，來到一棵已被摧殘的紅杉前。他說，他周圍的這些巨樹曾經歷閃電、大火、強風與其他天災的考驗，帶著鏈鋸的盜採者卻是另一回事。他說，消費者必須知道一個樹節來自何處，同時勇敢的問：「它來自何處？」

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/09/us/poachers-attack-beloved-elders-of-california-its-redwoods.html

2014-04-29聯合報/G5版/UNITEDDAILYNEWS 陳世欽譯 原文參見紐時週報十一版右