NATURAL AREAS AND REGIONS 



199 



State Highway for 14 mi. between 

 Miranda and Dyerville in the basin of 

 the South Fork of the Eel River. The 

 park is administered by the State Board 

 of Forestry. Camp facilities are pro- 

 vided at various points. 



230 mi. north of San Francisco. 

 Reached either by automobile via the 

 main State Highway to Eureka, or via 

 Northwestern Pacific Railroad to South 

 Fork Station or to Eureka, and thence 

 to the park by automobile. 



*Humboldt County Pioneer Memorial 

 (B2). An area of 166 acres of giant 

 erd woods on the California State High- 

 way near Orick, Humboldt Co. Some 

 of the largest trees in the redwood belt 

 are found in this tract; these with the 

 massive firs, maples, spruce, and oaks, 

 together with the giant ferns and other 

 undergrowth, make it an area of unusual 

 beauty. It is still in a primeval state 

 and the deed stipulates that it shall be 

 kept in a natural condition. The grove 

 is crossed by Prairie Creek which adds 

 to the beauty of the grove and its ad- 

 vantages from a park and recreational 

 standpoint. 



About 60 mi. north of Eureka on the 

 California State Highway. 



V. PROPOSED AREAS 



Proposed Redwood National Park 



1. It is hoped that eventually a Red- 

 wood National Park, consisting of a 

 tract of primeval forest possessing the 

 scenic features most characteristic of the 

 region, will be established in the north- 

 ern limit of the redwood belt (Del Norte 

 Count}'). It should be truly represen- 

 tative of the redwoods in their maturity, 

 and should be of adequate size — prob- 

 ably not less than 20,000 acres, should be 

 accessible, and should present adequate 

 opportunities for recreation. In accord- 

 ance with a resolution passed by Con- 

 gress in 1920 , surveys have been made 

 and the problem studied extensively. 

 The groves along the approach to this 

 national park will be preserved through 

 private donation and through state and 

 county appropriations, ultimately mak- 

 ing a "Highway of the Giants," extend- 

 ing from their southernmost limit to 

 their northernmost, and connecting the 

 various groves and parks. 



2. The redwood region of Humboldt 

 and Del Norte Counties i along and near 

 the Trinidad-Crescent City Highways). 

 In view of the efforts being made to 

 save areas of the coast redwoods and of 

 the good information that is available 

 regarding them from other sources, 

 attention is called merely to the impor- 

 tance, from an ecological point of view, 

 of preserving not only areas of pure 

 stands of redwoods (to which the efforts 

 of the Save the Redwoods League 

 will doubtless l)e chiefly directed), bm 

 also of the several very different types of 

 mixed forest of redwoods and other trees, 

 and especially of the covering forest 

 (largely Sitka spruce and lowland white 

 fir) which intervenes between the red- 

 wood belt and the ocean shore, and is 

 necessary to protect the redwoods from 

 the ocean winds unless hills intervene. 

 Along the old Trinidad-Crescent City 

 Highway, much of the forest is of the 

 mixed type and contains magnificent 

 examples of Douglas firs, hemlocks and 

 white firs. Firs 250 to 260 ft. high are 

 common in these forests. 



The forest consists in some places of 

 almost pure Sitka spruce, sometimes of 

 large size and great height. Much of it 

 has already been destroj^ed. It is easilj^ 

 killed by fire and exposure to wind and 

 sun. Prompt efforts should be made 

 for the permanent protection of some 

 of this tract of spruce and lowland 

 fir. 



There are magnificent stands of Sitka 

 spruce in the vicinity of Requa, Del 

 Norte County, and Orick, Humboldt 

 County (some of them are probably 280 

 ft. tall). The finest lowland white fir 

 along the highway is in two rather small 

 tracts of mixed redwood forest between 

 Orick and Trinidad. There is little 

 forest anywhere in the United States 

 more worth saving from a scientific 

 and aesthetic point of view than some 

 of the tracts along this highway and in 

 its immediate vicinit}', especially from 

 the Del Norte-Humboldt County line 

 to near Orick, although so far as the red- 

 woods themselves are concerned, better 

 stands can be found elsewhere, especially 

 near Smith River and South Fork. 



3. Monterey Coniferous Forest. 

 Northwestern coniferous forest, sand 

 areas, ravines, canyons, sand and rocky 

 shores, and marshes. Fine stand of 

 Monterej' pine and coast redwood. 

 Monterey cypress along the shore 

 line. 



Monterej' County. Pacific Grove or 

 Monterey, California, 3 to 10 mi. north. 

 — Prof. Lynds Jones, Oberlin College, 

 Oberlin, Ohio. 



