Children see things they like and sometimes take them. They don’t mean to be bad, that’s just how they understand life to be. Parents tend to teach hard from an early age that it’s not okay in shops and stores, but that, of COURSE, wouldn’t apply to the outside world.

So one child picked up a pine cone (it’s actually a Giant Sequoia cone, but looks like a pine cone) as a souvenir of his trip to the Kings Canyon National Park in California. His parents didn’t notice, presumably, until they got home and they explained to him that the park rules state that taking pine cones and other vegetation is actually not allowed. The kid felt so bad that he wrote the note pictured above and taped the cone and mailed it back to the park, asking them to put it near the General Grant Tree, because that’s where he found it.

The letter states

“To Whom It May Concern:

I took a pine cone out of the forest and I wanted to return it. I hope it will be placed near the General Grant tree because that is where I took it.

I am sorry for my decision.

Thank you.”

Kings Canyon National Parks explained on their Facebook post that it’s against the rules to take things like pine cones out because “It’s a tough environment here. The animals need their nibbles and the area needs seeds and vegetation. Also, the cones and other plants deteriorate and help to create soil in this rocky environment.”

They were so happy to get this in the mail that they posted the picture of the letter on their Facebook

It’s captioned:

“Have you ever wanted to take a pine cone home from the park? It’s actually against park rules to do so. Why? It’s a tough environment here. The animals need their nibbles and the area needs the seeds and vegetation. Also, cones and other plants deteriorate and help to create soil in this rocky environment.

Check out this note that we received from a young visitor. It isn’t a pine cone – it’s a Giant Sequoia cone, of course. But we are so glad this young person thought about the park’s preservation messages. Thanks for leaving Sequoia and Kings Canyon Parks as you found them. And, thanks for sending this back, buddy! (Photo Credit: Meredith Elgart)”

Smart kid, and way to go, parents, for using this situation as a lesson in nature!

-Kristin