09/04/2026
🌳 ATOMIC CRUNCH ACADEMY FIELD RESEARCH
THE TREE THAT DIED BUT IS STILL ALIVE!
Chief Scientist Andy reporting from Howard Amon Park in Richland, Washington!
During our latest field investigation, we discovered something unusual standing near the Columbia River.
From a distance, it looked like an old, leafless tree. But as we moved closer, eagles appeared above us. Owls watched from the branches. Fish, animals and human figures emerged from the trunk.
This wasn’t merely a tree.
It was a story carved into wood.
That discovery gave us our research question:
🔬 Can a tree continue living even after it dies?
OUR OBSERVATIONS
The tree had no leaves, buds or small living branches. Its wood was gray and covered with deep cracks. Those were all clues that it was no longer alive.
But it hadn’t disappeared.
Instead, its trunk and largest branches had been transformed into an enormous outdoor sculpture. Indigenous figures were carved around the trunk, while eagles, owls, fish and other animals appeared above and around them.
Why had this dead tree been left standing—and who created it?
THE INVESTIGATION
Our research led us back to 2008.
Richland officials had planned to remove two diseased trees from Howard Amon Park: a maple and a nearby black walnut. At least one of the trees had been damaged by wind and wood-boring insects.
Then some park maintenance workers had a creative idea:
Instead of completely removing the trees, why not turn their remaining trunks into art?
The city hired local chainsaw artist Paul Jones of Spirit Brothers Chainsaw Art to transform the two trees into what were called “history poles.” The project cost $7,500 for both trees.
The maple tree was carved with scenes from Richland’s early history. The black walnut was carved with Indigenous people and animals.
The tree in our photographs is the black walnut.
The human figures also remind us that Richland’s history did not begin when the modern city was founded. Wanapum, Walla Walla and Yakama people lived, hunted and fished throughout this area for thousands of years. A village called Chemna once stood near the meeting place of the Yakima and Columbia rivers.
Here is an important scientific and historical caution: this sculpture was created in 2008. It is modern public artwork—not an ancient carving or a traditional tribal totem pole. We also could not find an official guide identifying every person or explaining every symbol.
Therefore, we should observe the artwork without inventing identities or meanings that have not been documented.
Good researchers clearly separate evidence from guesses.
THE SCIENCE INSIDE THE SCULPTURE
When a tree dies, photosynthesis stops. Its roots no longer collect water, its tissues no longer transport nutrients and its trunk can no longer grow or repair injuries.
But the wood does not immediately vanish.
Wood contains strong cellulose fibers held together and stiffened by a substance called lignin. Black walnut heartwood is also naturally durable and resistant to decay. That may help explain how this sculpture has remained standing outdoors for approximately 18 years.
The tree is still changing, though.
Look carefully at its gray surface. That color is evidence of weathering. Ultraviolet energy from sunlight slowly breaks down lignin near the surface. Rain and wind then carry away some of the damaged material, leaving the wood with a silvery-gray appearance.
Now examine the deep vertical cracks.
Wood absorbs moisture when conditions are wet and loses moisture when conditions are dry. As it repeatedly swells and shrinks—and as its outside dries differently from its interior—stress develops inside the wood. Eventually, the fibers separate and form cracks called checks.
Those cracks aren’t simply signs of age. They are physical evidence of sunlight, water, temperature and time acting upon the tree.
This sculpture is also a continuing outdoor science experiment!
OUR CONCLUSION
Can a tree continue living after it dies?
Our evidence says yes.
In a natural forest, standing dead trees—called snags—can provide homes and food for insects, birds, bats and other animals. As dead wood decomposes, it also returns nutrients to the ecosystem.
This particular tree was given another purpose as well.
It no longer produces oxygen, grows leaves or provides the shade it once did. But it now preserves a piece of community history, introduces visitors to art, inspires questions and gives young scientists something fascinating to investigate. That’s living!
Its first life was biological.
Its second life is educational, artistic and historical.
The tree may have stopped growing, but it never stopped telling a story.
🌳 DID YOU KNOW?
The gray color of old outdoor wood isn’t its original color. It is a visible record of sunlight and weather slowly changing the wood’s surface!
🔍 YOUR FIELD CHALLENGE
If you visit this sculpture in Howard Amon Park:
1. Count how many animals you can find.
2. Look for the deepest checks in the wood.
3. Compare the different sides of the tree.
4. Decide which side appears most weathered.
5. Form a hypothesis explaining why!
How many carved animals can you identify in our photographs?
Observe. Question. Discover.
