Unfotunately, the heavy snow of the 1969 made the giant Wawona Tree fall but the great thing about this is that the tree remained in its location and created a new habitat for insects and animals and therefore boosted the ecosystem.
It is estimated that this sequoia was over 2,000 years old and now it is still a celebrity and it is known as Fallen Tunnel Tree.
More recently, this January 2017, a similar episode occurred in the Big Trees State Park in Arnold, in California where another giant sequoia tree has fallen as consequence of the winter storms that hit the country in this season. Its name was Pioneer Cabin Tree and it is estimated that this tree was 1,000 years old.Between the 1800 and 1900 several sequoia trees had the tunnel dug into their trunks for the tourists pleasures to drive, bike, or walk through them.
Luckily, nowadays this torture has stopped and the parks do not need to promote themselves using the tunnel trees. In fact the tunneling inflicted profound and severe damage to the health and strength of the trees. On this purpose the National Park Service has commented: "Tunnel trees had their time and place in the early history of our national parks, but today sequoias which are standing healthy and whole are worth far more."
Before starting this article I was very fascinated about the tunnels in the Californian Sequoia tress as I believed that those tunnels were a consequence of a natural crack that are created in ancient trees, but I could not imagine that it was a man-made attraction.
I am relieved knowing that this form of promotion for the Californian Yosemite Natural Park now has stopped.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/09/us/pioneer-cabin-tree-sequoia.html
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/01/09/508919216/iconic-sequoia-tunnel-tree-brought-down-by-california-storm
http://www.sciencealert.com/the-1-000-year-old-iconic-tunnel-tree-pioneer-cabin-has-fallen-from-a-winter-storm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wawona_Tree
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