Letters: Tunnel tree’s fate sealed long before it fell

Rest in peace, big Pioneer Cabin tree

Re “Famed tree with car-sized tunnel felled by big storm” (Page 4A, Jan. 10): I hope the Calaveras Big Trees State Park people let the Pioneer Cabin tree lie where it fell, and protect it from vandals who would like to make some bowls and pens from its wood. It was the same extractive, boosterish and tourism-driven impulses that led to someone cutting out the tree’s living heart in the 1880s.

It’s amazing that it remained standing, mortally wounded, as long as it did. Let it rest in peace and nourish the earth from which it sprang.

Felled by storm or by mutilation?

Re “Famed tree with car-sized tunnel felled by big storm” (Page 4A, Jan. 10): The Pioneer Cabin tree of Calaveras County, with its car-sized tunnel, fell during the recent storm. Your article suggests that it was the storm that felled the tree. I would argue that if there was not a car-sized tunnel mutilating the tree, it would still be standing.

Driving in Humboldt County with my kids, we saw a sign about a “drive-thru tree.” My kids wanted me to take them to it. I explained that I was not going to reward some idiot who mutilated a tree by giving them money. They agreed and we went to see some other giant, non-mutilated trees.

On hiring Holder, lawyers collide

Re “Legislature broke law by hiring Holder, GOP lawmaker says” (Page A7, Jan. 10): Since the Democrats, with their legislative supermajority, think they can pretty much do as they please without any regard for citizens, Assemblyman Kevin Kiley’s polite attempt to correct them should not go unnoticed. After all, the current legislative leaders are acting as if they are in some bad “Star Wars” episode, leading a mythical “resistance.”

The reality is this is still a nation of laws, despite the Legislature’s attempt to disregard the laws they don’t like even before they are enacted. Or enacted at all. The sane citizens of California really have to ask themselves why legislators need law firms to represent them. It proves they do not care about what really needs to be done.

Nice move calling foul on Holder

Re “Legislature broke law by hiring Holder, GOP lawmaker says” (Page A7, Jan. 10): Thank you, Assemblyman Kevin Kiley, for holding Democrats accountable for hiring the firm that employs former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. For Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon and Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León to say they are exempt from rules to hire outside counsel is ludicrous.

It shows an utter contempt not only for the rule of law, but also for the few of us Republicans in the state who think that money – $25,000 per month – could be spent on better causes. It also highlights an agenda that does not include all Californians and doesn’t show much faith in the 1,600 other attorneys already on the state’s payroll.

Hiring Holder also an affront to ethics

Re “Legislature broke law by hiring Holder, GOP lawmaker says” (Page A7, Jan. 10): There are ethical rules that appear to be applicable to the hiring of former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. Former federal employees who had or who have had access to privileged U.S. attorney-client information, and sensitive government information ethically shouldn’t be permitted to personally benefit from their previous positions. Why hasn’t Holder himself raised this issue?

View of Trump’s Cabinet is myopic

Re “Why the rush on Trump’s Cabinet picks?” (Editorials, Jan 10): The editorial board has it all wrong. Donald Trump has nominated successful business people for his Cabinet. The less they know about their departments, the better. The staffers will have to prove that every program is worth the budget allocation. It will be interesting.

This story was originally published January 11, 2017 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Letters: Tunnel tree’s fate sealed long before it fell."