The rocket scientist Wernher von Braun once said that nature does not know extinction, only transformation.

Such seems to be the case in St. Helena in the vacant lot at the corner of Pope Street and Chiles Avenue, where new life is taking root even as nature lovers continue to mourn the loss of a 65.5-inch-wide, centuries-old valley oak.

“In 2011, Mayor Dell Britton authorized the planting of an experimental forest in St. Helena --a simple idea with extraordinary potential. But what is an experimental forest? Here, it meant reimagining unused city land south of the wastewater treatment facilities off Chaiz [Chaix] Lane as a place to learn, restore, and grow. Today that vision has taken root as The St. Helena Community Forest: a thriving, 16-acre ecosystem of 2,000 coast redwoods, 80 dawn redwoods, and 200 valley and coast live oaks. And the forest is still growing --both in size and in purpose.”

“We found owl pellets scattered in the understory, a sign that predators are already using this place as part of their nightly map. In a nearby field, about 35 egrets stood in a loose cluster, shifting as a group. Songbirds moved through the canopy and edges, and the variety was striking for a place so close to working vineyards and so long kept behind fences.”

Members of Congregation Beth Shalom spent what’s often called the Jewish Earth Day planting trees and pulling weeds in the St. Helena Community Forest.

As Caltrans removed the last of the original trees from St. Helena’s elm tunnel, another forest at the other end of town was silently flourishing.

The city-owned St. Helena Community Forest isn’t open to the public yet, but founder Paul Asmuth wants its more than 2,500 trees – and counting – to inspire awe in future generations.