I moderated a panel last week in Seattle and one of my panelists is a research social scientist for the USFS. Her work centers on the human dimensions of urban forestry, and her presentation used this tree as an optic for how important it is for people to see green in urban areas. That is: there are many reasons to have trees in cities, and there is a measurable human need for them. The effort and energy that is going into saving clones of this tree is the perfect illustration of this.
