THE GLORY OF THE REDWOODS THREATENED BY FIRE 



1445 



in the San Francisco Examiner of September 28, says in 

 part as follows : 



"We believe it would pay some prospective legislative candi- 

 date to make a serious study of the effects, in the past, of forest 

 iires. He should get the facts of the actual money losses 

 represented by these fires. He 

 should become acquainted with 

 the state's forest resources, the 

 rates of use and the rates of 

 renewal, and the enormous 

 hole that is cut in these re- 

 sources each year by fires. 



"Mr. Homans, we feel sure, 

 will be very glad to give him all 

 the assistance he needs in ac- 

 quiring such information. 



"And then this prospective 

 legislative candidate should 

 make his election campaign on 

 an issue of adequate forest 

 protection and, when he is 

 elected, should make a two- 

 fisted fight exclusively on this 

 issue. We believe he would 

 win the attention of the entire 

 state on such an issue. And 

 if the state can once be aroused 

 there is no question that the 

 Department of Forestry of the 

 State of California will get its 

 rightful place somewhere near 

 the center of the state's activi- 

 ties, instead of being consid- 

 ered, as it too frequently has 

 been considered in the past, a 

 sort of side issue." 



Recent extension of the 

 California State Highway 

 system through Humboldt 

 County, has made the mag- 

 nificent redwood forests of 

 the northern coast easily ac- 

 cessible to the lover of na- 

 ture, to the tourist, and to 

 important industries de- 

 pendent upon forest prod- 

 ucts. This extended use of 

 the highway coming at a 

 time of unusual activity 

 following the war, lias 

 brought us to sudden un- 

 derstanding of the value 

 and interest of these for- 

 ests as unique wonders of 

 nature, and to realization 

 of the imminence of their 

 disappearance before the 

 requirements of this great 

 lumber-using country. 



The Save the Redwoods 

 League was organized to 

 assist in bringing about a 

 better and more general un- 

 derstanding of the value of 

 the primeval redwood for- 

 ests of America as natural 

 objects of extraordinary in- 

 terest as well as of economic importance, and for the 

 purpose of bringing into unity of action all interests 

 concerned with the movement to preserve such portions 



A VETERAN, HOLLOWED BY THE AGES 



This is the type which fell most readily before the flames, having been hoi' 

 lowed out and weakened by previous tires four or five hundred years ago 



of these forests as should be saved to represent their 

 fullest beauty and grandeur. 



The plans of the League involve: (i) The securing 

 of a belt of the finest redwood timber bordering the 



northern highway, in the 

 hope that this area may be- 

 come a state park. (2) The 

 obtaining of a considerable 

 body of the most typical 

 primitive redwood forest 

 known, for the purposes of 

 a National Redwood Park. 

 Determination of the pre- 

 cise limits of the particular 

 areas to be selected for 

 park purposes will be based 

 upon a carefully prepared 

 report furnished by the 

 Committee on Redwoods 

 Investigation, including the 

 most competent authorities 

 in America. 



Mr. Mather has given 

 himself wholeheartedly to 

 support of the movement 

 to preserve the redwoods, 

 and in co-operation with a 

 group of leading men rep- 

 resenting all parts of the 

 country, he is continuing 

 to make clear to the public 

 the national significance of 

 these magnificent forests. 



The movement to secure 

 forest areas bordering the 

 highway for purposes of a 

 state park has received 

 enthusiastic support from 

 a wide range of organiza- 

 tions in California as well 

 as from a great number of 

 individuals concerned with 

 the welfare of the state. 

 It has been generally 

 recognized that the red- 

 wood forests constitute a 

 natural asset of this coun- 

 try to be ranked in import- 

 ance with the great moun- 

 tains and valleys as monu- 

 mental works of nature. 

 To have the northern 

 highway traverse the 

 groves along the streams 

 means bringing the finest 

 of these trees to their fullest usefulness. There is reason 

 to hope that the desires of those who have planned the 

 preservation of these areas may yet be realized. 



