SHERWOOD, Ore. — Deep inside a forest in Oregon's Willamette Valley stands a dead "Tree of Life." Its foliage, normally soft and green, is tough and brown or missing altogether. Nonetheless, the ...
Dendrochronologists extract a small, pencil-shaped sample of wood from a tree with a tool called an increment borer. The tiny hole left in the tree's trunk quickly heals as the tree continues to grow.