Forum:Tense

As I read the articles on Wookiepedia I notice that they are all written in the past tense. But should that be? For example the short article "Palm tree" says:

"Palm trees were a variety of tree that could be found on a number of planets. They were a source of carbon."

This seems a bit odd to me as.. shouldn't they still be a source of carbon? And still be found on a number of planets? Same goes to many other articles.

Maybe it is considered that everything is in the past because of: "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away" ..

I'd like to know as to what the general opinion is on this. Thanks.