Thomas H. Reed

 I also understand that being science fiction there is some leeway what I can or can't get away with.  Still I would like my planet to be as realistic as possible as well as not insult the reader botanist. and the people who cut down trees for a living.    

Someone ask what the planet was like.  One of the reasons the planet was picked for colonization was because the planets environment is almost identical to Earths.   Colonization was limited to only a half a million people.  Because the environment is so much like earth it was perfect for transplanting earth species that were on the verge going extinct.  Both plant and animal.  The tree is not a transplant but a native species indigenous to the planet.  Even the animals on the planet while odd are not all that exotic.  It even has an equivalent of a humanoid.  Slightly smaller, with pointed ears and longer canines to tear at roots and fruit rinds.   Thus the rub.  

Wow a lot of good feed back.  I wasn't expecting so much.  I especially like the lesson on how to cut a tree down.   He brought up points that I never even considered.  It is not just a matter of cutting the tree down but once it is cut down then there is the problem of moving it.  So I have that figured out.  I'll just fly it out of there with a series of rotor blades attached to the tree itself.  Then remotely guided.  As for the cradle instead of cutting down a bunch of trees it could be an erected cradle that would catch the tree as it fell. As for the location it is a rain forest and the reason it grows so tall is competition.  The water supply is a problem but I think I have a way around it.  Catch basins that catch and collect water.   Either through condensation or rainfall.  The larger the tree the bigger the catch basin.  That also gives me some other ideas about the life forms that live in and around the trees.   Thanks for all the great feed back this really will help.  Still when it actually comes to cutting this thing down I'm going to have to do some homework.  

 I am writing a science fiction story, where the trees can grow as tall as 244 meters tall which makes them almost three times as tall as the tallest tree on Earth.  The gravity and atmosphere is about the same.  The climate is about the same.    My question is; What kind of structure would the tree have to have in order to reach that height.   What would the width of a tree like that be.   They reach the end of their lives at 244 to 250 meters then slowly die out.  The wood of the tree is very expensive and only one tree a year can be cut down, and only if there is a tree that has reached its turning point.  So all the trees that are eligible are marked  for cutting with a maturity date.   The first rule of writing is "Don't insult the reader."  Okay the average person would say "Okay its an 800 foot tall tree."  however, there are those out there that will say, "impossible"  So I'm going to ask the botanist in here to think outside of the box.  My explorer botanist is saying "Impossible."  while the obvious is pointed out.  "Yet there they stand."  So what would you look for in a tree that tall?  What would you expect to find if you encountered a three that is 244 meters tall?   If you think I am asking you the impossible just wait until I start bugging limber jacks about how to cut down a tree that size without damaging it.