Great Tree; Lousy Parking

If the Dyerville Giant measures up, local business may cheer but Humboldt Redwood State Park could find itself up a tree.

Some believe that the Giant could be the tallest measured tree in the world. When surveyed in the 1970s, the redwood stretched to 362 feet--a mere 5.8 feet below the current record-holder in Redwood National Park. It’s being re-measured now.

If the still-growing Giant takes the title, the state park estimates that as many as 250,000 tourists a year could flock there--a knotty problem considering that the area by the tree has but 20 parking spaces and one restroom.

Even so, John Dimmick, president of the Garberville-Redway Chamber of Commerce, is rooting for growth. “Anything we can do to bolster the tourism in the area is welcome.”

And park officials say they’ll find a way to handle any problems. On the matter of which tree is biggest, chief ranger Joe Hardcastle says, “We’d like to settle this one way or the other.”