The Pacific Yew

The Yew Prior to the 1990s, the Pacific Yew (Taxus brevifolia), an evergreen growing in old-growth forests of the Pacific Northwest, had no commercial value. Then, cancer researches found that the bark of the yew contained an anti-cancer alkaloid. They named it Taxol. Suddenly, there was a high demand for Taxol and the yew was heavily harvested. For a short while, it looked liked the yew might become a threatened species for several reasons. The yew has a slow growth rate and few large trees existed. Also, the concentration of Taxol in the bark is very low and all of the bark from each tree was needed which meant that the tree died from the harvest. In response to this high demand the Yew Bark Harvest Act was passed to simultaneously protect the yew and provide for an adequate supply of bark for medicine. Fortunately, shortly after the Act was passed, a means of partially synthetically generating Taxol was found and the Pacific Yew was once again left alone. This story demonstrates the need to preserve species through proper management and science. For without the yew, we would not have a means of saving thousands of womens lives each year from breast and ovarian cancer. These photos of a harvest in the central Oregon Cascades which, are to my knowledge, the only photos of a yew bark harvest in the Pacific Northwest. Taken on film in 1990, the images are a timeless representation of the value of our botanical resources.