Black oaks had been at the center of environmental concerns and protests for weeks, and on this sunny and warm afternoon Rock and Walt stood among hundreds of them near the entrance to a popular California state park.
Rock and Walt and dozens of other visitors were in an outdoor lobby, milling through exhibits when Rock noticed the trees. "Hey, look, black oaks," he said. "Have you read that stuff in the paper?"
"You mean where when they burn one of them it leads to at least fifty deaths?" Walt said.
"Exactly. Sounds crazy doesn't it?"
A cute young woman stood near them and caught Rock's eye "Do you mind if I ask what this is you're saying about black oaks?" she said.
Rock of course didn't, and mentioned a recently published report. "It said the long-term effects of burning them will lead to at least fifty people dying per tree burned."
"People are dying?" she said. "What do you mean by long-term effects?
"Well, I don't think they've been able to connect the burning of them to any specific death," Rock said. "Somehow they seem to have convinced themselves that people are dying long after the trees have burned. Obviously if they could get fifty names in the paper they'd shut down burning them immediately."
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