David Milarch's near-death experience inspired a personal quest: to archive the genetics of the world's largest trees before they're gone. This short film from The Story Group documents his effort to save the redwood champions of Northern California from the effects of climate change.
of course the loss of buttressing by removing a substantial portion of the basal swell contributed to its loss, that was being facetious. Bad juju.
i think it contributed to people's imaginations, and thus helped the conservation movement's drive in the early days. most of its partners ended up as planks on a ship or a rich person's deck...
some people feel good just knowing there were trees like that, nowadays it would probably get branded as trump tree.