ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



97 



Of course, in discussing the present Red- 

 woods, one must always bear in mind that 

 many of the finest groves have fallen to the 

 axe, judging from the silent records of gigantic 

 stumps along the Eel River, especially at Sono- 

 ma Flat, only recently destroyed, to say nothing 

 of forests to the north long since cut away. It 

 is probable that the existing groves, with few 

 exceptions such as Bull Creek Flat, do not rep- 

 resent the finest groves of Redwoods of fifty 

 years ago. How needless all this sacrifice of 

 Humboldt Redwoods has been may be measured 

 by the fact that few if any of the lumber com- 

 panies have proven profitable investments, if 

 their failure to pay dividends is a test of their 

 commercial success. 



On rare occasions, notably where a strong 

 wind follows long rainy seasons, Redwoods when 

 exposed on high ridges may be blown down, but 

 there are no such windfalls as are found in the 

 forests of Canada. The danger of wind over- 

 throwing Redwoods, even when in a thin strip 

 along a road, is very slight if there is reason- 

 able protection from the contour of the ground. 



The original range of the Redwoods extended 

 from Monterey north along the California coast 

 to a point a few miles over the Oregon line, em- 

 bracing an area with a length of about 450 miles 

 and a width not exceeding forty miles. The 

 narrowness of this range seems to be determined 

 by the fog which sweeps in from the Pacific, 

 and the writer has seen the edge of the fog-bank 

 clinging closely to the inland limit of the Red- 

 wood belt. The natives, with the usual human 

 capacity for error, state that the. Redwoods at- 

 tract fog, but of course it is the moisture of the 

 fog deposited on the tops of the Redwoods that 

 determines their inland distribution. These for- 

 ests are sometimes so wet that the dripping from 

 the high crowns is like a thin rain, and at Red- 

 wood Creek during the past summer it was hard 

 to tell whether it was raining or not, so satu- 

 rated with moisture were the foliage and the 

 trunks, when the fog darkened the forest. 



In the southern and larger half of its range, 

 the Redwood is somewhat broken up in more or 

 less isolated groves, and the axe of the lumber- 

 man has now separated these groves still more 

 widely. In the north there is an almost con- 

 tinuous series of solid stands of Redwoods, con- 

 stituting the most magnificent forests in the 

 world, not even excepting the great Douglas firs 

 and pines that adjoin them in Oregon. 



The Redwoods in the south seem to show a 

 marked variation from those of the north, being 

 generally redder in color, and their growth in 

 rings or circles is much more frequent than in 

 the groves of Humboldt and Del Norte Coun- 



ties. A further study will probably bring out 

 other characteristic differences. 



South of San Francisco the Redwoods are now 

 chiefly found in the Big Basin, which has been 

 wisely made into a state park, and in the famous 

 Santa Cruz grove. Intermediate spots along the 

 Coast Range, notably at La Honda, are inter- 

 esting chiefly as showing the pathetic solicitude 

 with which the owners of surviving trees care for 

 the battered remnants amid the charred stumps 

 of former giants. Here at least the owners have 

 learned that the value of a living tree at a pub- 

 lic resort or along a highway far exceeds the 

 value of its lumber. All these southern groves 

 are mere reminders of the forests that are gone, 

 but the surviving trees will be carefully 

 protected. 



North of San Francisco, the Muir Woods on 

 the slopes of Mount Tamalpais are easily ac- 

 cessible and show something of the forest gran- 

 deur formerly found in the region of the Golden 

 Gate. The preservation of this grove is entirely 

 due to the wise munificence of Mr. William Kent, 

 who presented it to the nation, and put into 

 practical form that devotion to California about 

 which so many of its sons talk eloquently and 

 do so little to perpetuate. 



To the north, Sonoma County has purchased 

 for public use the Armstrong Grove, and Men- 

 docino County probably will be impelled to buy 

 the Montgomery Grove. These last trees are 

 situated near the highway to the north of Ukiah, 

 and will be the first grove visited by the north- 

 bound tourist. If they are purchased by the 

 town or county, Ukiah will become the entrance 

 to the Redwood Park series, and like Merced 

 at the entrance to the Yosemite Valley will de- 

 rive a great revenue from motor tourists. 



After leaving Mendocino County one enters 

 the great groves of Humboldt and Del Norte 

 Counties. Here are solid stands of Redwoods 

 and their subtle charm is so uniform that the ob- 

 server finds it difficult to distinguish between one 

 grove and the next. 



Four great forests stand out prominently: 

 They are the groves along the south fork of the 

 Eel River and the west bank of the main Eel, 

 culminating in the Bull Creek Flat and the 

 Dyerville Flat; the immense Redwood Creek 

 grove ; the Klamath River groves, and the Smith 

 River groves in Del Norte County. Each has 

 its peculiar beauty and it is difficult to choose 

 among them, but it is the trees of Humboldt 

 which at the present moment are most in peril. 



See pages 111, 113, 114, 115. 



Destruction 



The groves along the south fork of the Eel 

 River are traversed by the state highway now 



