Friday, June 10, 2011

Readers write - The story of the Cola Tree!


Greetings,

I’m sending this email to you in order to respond to the many questions I have received regarding events happening at my property. Many of you have been curious about the large white cube vans and other strange activities. In fact, I have been sworn to secrecy for the past month; however the cat is out of the bag since the events here have now hit the international media.

So…to make a long story short, I’ve pasted in one of the news articles – it will tell all – and no doubt you will hear much more in the coming days.

World News Network Report:

Mysterious Cola Tree Discovered in British Columbia

Scientists perplexed as to whether it’s natural evolution or genetically modified.

Sciencewire – June 8, 2011 - By Amar Kasan

VANCOUVER, CANADA - A strange anomaly in a central British Columbia forest is causing a stir in scientific circles across North America today. A scar on what was thought to be a Douglas Fir tree has exposed an unusual red core completely different than what naturally occurs in such a tree.

College student Albert Glass discovered the tree while compiling a spring bird count about 6 miles east of the small hamlet of Lumby which is about 400 miles east of Vancouver.

“It caught the corner of my eye when I had to maneuver around a fallen tree on the trail. I was very surprised and examined it right away. The core beneath the bark is a very bright red, almost metallic in nature with white grainy patterns - it seems very unnatural” stated Glass who immediately notified the landowner.

Don Elzer owns the remote property the tree is on, but said he never noticed it before and was also very surprised.

“There was quite a crowd of neighbors by the time I arrived, some of them saying it must be some sort of genetically modified tree. I scraped some of the sap running down the scar and gave it a taste and it’s very unusual, it tastes like a combination of maple syrup and root beer – nothing like Douglas Fir sap”.

Elzer has nicknamed the tree the “cola tree” and added that earlier reports were wrong, the scar is not recent.

“The bark has been growing around the scar which is like a wound to the tree, so it happened quite some time ago”.

Elzer discounts suggestions that it is a genetically modified tree; he guesses that the tree is over thirty years old.

“I don’t think that sort of modification was happening 30 years ago”, he said.

But Dr. Michael Phipps disagrees.

“In the 1970’s and 80’s there were extensive experiments that introduced genetically modified species into large forests in both Alaska and Washington State, the seeds from those trees may have spread over a larger area by birds or by some other natural event.

Phipps is the head of Forest Research at the University of Southern California – Berkley, and he is both excited and concerned about the discovery.

“If it is a man-made species then it could tell us a story about how dramatically forests can move and expand throughout a region; if it’s natural evolution of a species then the find is extraordinary and represents a big bang event in the eco-system. Either way the Canadian government should move quickly to protect the tree”.

Phipps added that the tree itself may have spread seeds over a vast area by now and there is no telling how it may have impacted the environment.

“I would also suggest that people not taste the sap, or burn the wood there may be toxins that present serious risks – you don’t want to be sucking the syrup out of that tree – at least not yet”.

Phipps is organizing a team of scientists to further examine the tree and should be onsite with a research lab by the end of the week.

So far there has been no response from the British Columbia Ministry of Forests or the Canadian government.

For Albert Glass who discovered the tree, local celebrity status is eminent but he shrugs it off.

“Tomorrow I’ve got birds to count and unlike trees, I know they really move around”.

(30)

Copyright 2011 World News Network

I have taken photos and have posted them on my website.

www.wildcraftforest.com

Thanks so much,

Don Elzer

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I have been a resident of Coldstream since 1976. I have had 15 years of experience on Council, 3 years as Mayor. As a current Councillor I am working to achieve fair water and sewer rates and to ensure that taxpayers get fair treatment. The current direction regarding water supply is unsustainable and I am doing all I can to get the most cost effective water supply possible.