Aged fruit trees may look like raggedy old dogs, and also in common with some old dogs, they play host to a great variety of other species. You might not necessarily want one in your front yard, but they play valuable roles in the Pacific Northwest environment.

If gnarly and twisted old trees are often unloved, most of us are even less fond of ancient crabapples, which produce fruit only a worm could love. And yet it is wonderful and even slightly heart-warming news that fisherman and developer Al Gann worked with Lewis and Clark National Historical Park to transplant a number of these trees to a restored wetland east of the parks visitor center.

Commendable in their own right, the parks efforts aim to continue a process of turning pastureland back into a more natural long-term setting. This dovetails with the parks fundamental mission of providing a sort of window into our areas fabled past as the destination of great explorers and hereditary home to a legendary Indian nation.

The cooperation that resulted in transplanting these trees is comparatively new, a private-public partnership that benefits everyone involved. This action will facilitate Ganns plans for the site from which the trees were removed. And as every fisherman knows, fully functioning wetlands like the one he is helping are vital for healthy fisheries. They provide cover and food for fish at various stages of their lives.

Every gardener knows that transplanting trees can be a hit-and-miss proposition, especially when large specimens with complicated root structures are involved. In this case, even if the crabapples dont survive, they will still be very useful. They already host native sword ferns and mosses that have colonized their trucks and branches, like fleas on an old mutt.