Hyperion: Tallest Redwood: Heard hide or hair? Scuttlebutt? (location, place)

[MarkGraham]

Agree there is no point in posting the names. And those guys, I personally hold no animus toward them. But this is a puzzle that needs to be solved, the site has created a lot of discord in the tree community.

[Sea The Stars]

I guess contacting them and discussing the issues is the best way instead of insulting them like some did. I am pretty sure the site cannot be taken offline. Info is already spread so there is only one way.

[OldManWinter]

Sea the Stars, you are missing a key piece of information. People like Mark and Steve have had to work their butts off in figuring out who is behind FR just to keep their own reputations intact. Because both of them and others have been falsely accused by the people at the top on numerous occasions as being involved in FR. With no way to prove their innocence, they have had to try their best to solve the mystery the best they could. Either that, or allow their names to continue to be trampled on by those in power for no good reason.

[Sea The Stars]

Who are the people at the top? If they make unproven claims, I would not even care about them. Isn´t a site owner registered somewhere? Or is this site created in a 3rd world country.

The site is offline now?

"Internal Server Error"

[OldManWinter]

The people at the top are the ones who are actively involved in finding new trees, studying the known ones, and taking updated measurements. The reason they hold all the power is that because they have information that recreational tree searchers need in order to be successful. They used to give scraps of information out to help select people. But the circle was completely closed up tight and all outsiders have been viewed as a potential suspect for the past two years. Things have gotten quite nasty from the top on down.

The sad reality is, though, that the main person behind FR is probably within that very circle.

[Sea The Stars]

I assume it is someone who is/was actively involved cause

1. he/she knows most of the trees
2. there is no impressum etc. posted, so they probably know the trouble they´d get into.

I don´t know how big the group is and who is in it. But maybe someone had to leave the group a while ago or is left out when new trees are discovered.

[OldManWinter]

Hi everyone,

Please PM me any tips, suspects, or info you might have as to who is behind the leaks site. Your name will be kept confidential. Your help is greatly appreciated.

We already have some valuable information but need some additional help to close this.

Thanks.

[mdvaden]

Originally Posted by Sea The Stars

So where your parents from, then. But why change the name. Baden is a surname, too. Michael Baden, the forensic pathologist comes to my mind

So there is nothing wrong on the moral side to visit some of these trees even when they are a bit off the road?

Just guessing ... so shortly after WW II, it's possible there were still some hard feelings toward Germany, and maybe the Canadians tried to de-Germanize the name for people in a few cities.

RE visiting trees, there shouldn't be anything morally wrong visiting almost any tree if someone leaves the area virtually the same without damaging anything. Or, without messing around with sensors, which they may or may not notice walking around.

Originally Posted by MarkGraham

Yeah, it was quite an amazing trail encounter and eerie to see an older RAV4 in the Harper Flat pullout. From there a little bit of Google and social media to match vehicle, name, and face.

It seems likely these folks are FR. But not 100% certain and in either event I would suggest keeping the names private.

As you wrote in a following post, the puzzle should be solved. Actually, I think they should become accountable for their activity online or offline. As time passes, damaged vegetation continues to increase. And oddly, FRs has become a "nothing burger" from one season to the next.

FRs hasn't seen the biggest, doesn't know what's tallest, doesn't know where the biggest are situated, etc.. Not Dark Horse, Capt. Jack Sparrow, Hail Storm, Deku Tree, Spartan and several others never shown. There's nothing really impressive about isolated anonymous group think stuck in a dark corner.

[Sea The Stars]

Where can I find an US certificate or official paper that Hyperion is the highest and Helios the 2nd highest tree. Turns out European countries do not offically accept them as the highest trees.

[mdvaden]

Originally Posted by Sea The Stars

Where can I find an US certificate or official paper that Hyperion is the highest and Helios the 2nd highest tree. Turns out European countries do not offically accept them as the highest trees.

There isn't anything "official" in the USA.

Actually, even American Forest's national tree registry for big trees (muliple factors combined) is semi official. They are very recognized, yet anything handed to them for submission comes from the rest of the tree explorers. Presently, they list only what's been submitted through an application, but a good number of big and tall trees have been withheld from them, including hemlock, spruce and coast redwood. So it's hard to remain "official" when an organization's biggest tree stated isn't really the biggest of the species.

Research papers don't particularly help much anymore, at least for redwoods, because names are omitted, new trees were found, and all the tallest and biggest are already swapping places. Also, the scientific reports are not disclosing all the data presently. One or two scientists recently told a news writer about the existence of new stuff, but I don't recall any of the new stuff being a component of any paper of the past several years.

Really ... there's no actual value in a certificate or official paper for what's the most extreme, because such paperwork doesn't accomplish much. And the Europe thing you mentioned may emphasize the point that certification does not matter, or may be outdated.

This partially reminds me of some signs in Redwood National and State Parks. One should think the management is "official" ... but their new signs are out of date or inaccurate. Big Tree's sign has wrong height and girth, and probably the wrong age. Founder's Tree also exaggerated height. And The Giant Tree could use some extra accuracy.

What it all boils down to anymore, is that whether it's Redwood National Park, American Forests, Save the Redwoods League, National Geographic, News Media, etc. ...... virtually all of them do not know genuine accurate heights and size without getting that data from a small handful of explorers, experts and scientists that network together and have the gear, skill and knowledge. This latter handful of people are probably the true "official" source ... the underground.