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much longer time period than is currently accepted. Whether this was the common sentiment at the time is not known. In the article, Currey indicates that he sectioned the tree as much from the question of whether the oldest bristlecones were necessarily confined to
California's White Mountains (as some dendrochronologists had been claiming) as from its usefulness in regard to studies of the Little Ice Age.
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in eastern Nevada in particular. At the time he visited the area, in the summer of 1964, he did not know that previous researchers had examined the area. Based on the size, growth rate and growth forms of some of the trees he became convinced that some very old specimens existed on the mountain and,
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It took a few years for the information about the felling of
Prometheus to reach the public, but once it did there was great controversy. Most criticism centered on the U.S. Forest Service's decision to permit the tree to be cut. Further, some critics questioned how the cutting of such an old tree
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which includes the area Currey was working in), and made a request with Donald E. Cox, a district Forest
Service ranger, for permission to cut down the tree in order to examine the whole trunk in cross-section. Cox felt that the request was scientifically sound and, after convincing superiors that
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started no more than 600 years ago, many trees could presumably have provided the information he was after for that time period. However, in Currey's original report (Currey, 1965) he refers to the Little Ice Age as encompassing the period from 2000 BC to the present, thus defining the Age over a
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After securing permission, Cox informed Currey and assigned a Forest
Service crew to join the young researcher and bring back the samples. The tree was cut and sectioned on August 6, 1964, and several pieces of the sections hauled out to be processed and analyzed, first by Currey, then, later, by
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Currey was unable to obtain a continuous series of overlapping cores from WPN-114: he had tried at least four times with a 28 inch long borer, breaking two borers, but to no avail. He decided to ask for permission from the
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using the scientific methods of the time, Currey began taking core samples to check. He found that some exceeded 3,000 years in age, taking particular interest in a tree he designated WPN-114, the previously named
Prometheus.
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Currey died at age 70 on June 6, 2004, shortly after being hospitalized for a sudden illness. He was honored during the 2005 Annual
Meeting of the
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The incident led to a tighter restriction on the felling of old trees, the eventual creation of Great Basin
National Park (now overseen by the
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in the eastern Great Basin. His papers on Lake
Bonneville became the most cited papers in his department. His work examined the
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Currey went on to a successful academic career. By the time his paper on his finding was published in the journal
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were discovered to be older than any species yet dated, and in 1963 Currey became aware of a
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to fell the tree. He was already acquainted with Forest
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the particular tree was not a notable landmark, gained approval for felling it.
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others. To their surprise, the tree was not only old, but older than any other
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Currey, DR (1965). "An
Ancient Bristlecone Pine Stand in Eastern Nevada".
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He spent over two decades researching and exploring relics of ancient
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135:(January 24, 1934 – June 6, 2004) was an American professor of
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and joined the faculty of the Department of Geography at the
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was necessary given the topic Currey was studying. Since the
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394:"Donald R Currey in Social Security Death Index"
172:Prometheus (tree) § Cutting of the tree
190:University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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120:Learn how and when to remove this message
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58:adding citations to reliable sources
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248:(now a part of the much larger
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268:passed the age of Prometheus.
246:Lehman Caves National Monument
192:. Under a fellowship from the
25:Donald Currie (disambiguation)
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21:Donald Curry (disambiguation)
16:American academic (1934–2004)
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242:United States Forest Service
225:Great Basin Bristlecone Pine
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264:known until 2013, when the
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180:The cut stump of Prometheus
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250:Great Basin National Park
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456:Accessed July 24, 2010
450:, Great Basin Online,
448:The "Prometheus" Story
184:In 1963, Currey was a
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452:National Park Service
356:of Quaternary lakes;
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166:Discovery and felling
362:environmental change
313:University of Kansas
69:"Donald Rusk Currey"
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322:Professor Emeritus
317:University of Utah
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110:January 2021
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52:Please help
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354:geodynamics
229:Snake Range
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350:Quaternary
338:paleolakes
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291:Methuselah
259:non-clonal
213:California
149:Prometheus
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272:Aftermath
137:geography
295:Congress
262:organism
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