A Living Legacy of the Granite Mountain Hotshot crew. Submitted by: Douglas Hulmes, Professor of Environmental Studies, at Prescott College. One of the legacies of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, that should be remembered and shared with future generations, occurred while fighting the human caused Dosie fire on their namesake, Granite Mountain. Through their valiant efforts, no homes or humans were lost, and the recreation area around Granite Basin Lake was saved. But this was also the crew that took the call from Prescott College Alumni, Jason Williams, Recreational and Backcountry Specialist with the Prescott National Forest, and created a fire break in an attempt to save the largest recorded Alligator Juniper in Arizona. Another P.C. Alumni, Kevin Kieth, who is a fireman with the City of Prescott, relayed to me after the prayer vigil, held at the Prescott High School football field, how the tree was saved through their heroic efforts. Ironically, a week later 19 of the 20 firefighers died trying to save the community of Yarnell, twenty miles away. There is a Swedish word I have learned through my research and translation of stories about Sacred or Significant Trees of Norway and Sweden. Naturminneupptecknane means the recorder of nature’s memory. If a nearly two thousand year old Alligator Juniper could share the stories of all that has occurred in its surroundings, surely, one of the most requested would be the heroic saga of the valiant men in yellow uniforms who suddenly appeared out of the thick chaparral, and saved the ancient tree from a fire started by the careless ones. The great tree stands amidst blackened skeletons in a charred landscape. May the tree continue to stand as a recorder of Nature’s memory and a living memorial for those who cared. The last photo of Granite Mountain Hotshot crew was taken in the Alligator Juniper they saved while fighting the Dosie Fire on Granite Mountain. More thoughts: Since the first European immigrants colonized America, our culture has primarily viewed trees as a resource from an anthropocentric perspective. Trees have been viewed as a commodity that have literally built our nation. Since the 19th century, individuals such as Aldo Leopold have articulated ecological values as an important consideration for managing public and private lands. In his pivotal book, A Sand County Almanac, Aldo eloquently argues for the philosophical recognition of a Land Ethic or ecocentric perspective. Gifford Pinchot also recognized the importance of an ecocentric perspective in managing the multiple use philosophy of the National Forests. Other naturalists, like John Muir, argued for a biocentric view to also be considered that recognized the intrinsic value of an individual life or even a rock. Trees had a special place in Muir’s connection with nature, and he felt that forests and individual trees, such as ancient Redwoods and Sequoia were worthy of consideration and protection. As many have come to realize, with the valiant efforts by the Granite Mountain Hotshots to save the largest known Alligator Juniper in the world, a tree can become sacred, or worthy of respect for their age, magnitude and witness to a significant cultural event that stands as a legacy to those who saved this tree, making it forever part of our cultural heritage. On Monday, April 7, 2014, I led a dozen students and a teacher from Sogn Folk High School in Norway to visit the tree and hear my account of the Dosie fire and effort by the Granite Mountain Hotshots to save the ancient alligator juniper. I also had invited two students, Brian Stultz and Lauren Twohig , from Prescott College to assist me in measuring the tree for data required on an Az. State Forestry form nominating the tree as a Heritage Tree that would add another recognition of the tree’s cultural significance to its status as a Champion Tree. We approached the tree in silent respect for the firefighters, who one week after saving the tree died fighting to save the community of Yarnell twenty miles away. The group gathered on a burned slope near the tree, and as I began to share my memory of the events, three men appeared and approached the tree. I met them, introduced myself and explained that the group of students was from Norway and that we would be leaving shortly. One of the men stepped forward and introduced himself as Brendan McDonough, and that he was one of the hotshots who had saved the tree, and that this was the first time he had been back since the fire. A wave of energy went through me, as I realized the serendipity and poignancy of the moment. Holding back tears, I asked Brendan if he would be willing to share his story with the students. He graciously agreed and shared the amazing effort they made to protect the tree. He said that hotshots rarely focus on saving a tree, and they even considered the protocol of cutting the lower branches, but decided against it because of the trees magnitude. They dug a trench and cut back vegetation, before starting a backfire that would help reduce the intensity of the fire, but left not knowing if their effort would save the tree. The following day they returned to find the tree singed and a flame burning on one of the massive branches of the tree. A couple of the hotshots climbed out on the branch, extinguished the fire and dug out the burning embers with their hands. In celebration the hotshots formed a large pyramid at the base of the tree. The photo is one of the last images of the Granite Mountain Hotshots. October 22, 2014 Several months later, I was at the Wild Iris coffee shop working on a powerpoint on my research on Sacred Trees. I had just loaded several photos of the Alligator Juniper including a photo of Brendan speaking to the students. I happened to look up and see Brendan standing nearby. He recognized me and said you’re the guy I met at the juniper. We spoke for several minutes and acknowledged our serendipitous meetings.

[Unfortunately we have no information, that it is a natural sacred site. Administrator of the photocontest]