fifth nationai, conservation congress 83 > 



Redwood Type 



Though geographically a small and local type, the redwood forest must be 

 considered separately, for it is economically very important and silvically is un- 

 like any of the other types of the country. It occupies a narrow strip along the 

 California coast north of Monterey County and within the "fog belt," i. e., within 

 25 miles or so of the shore line. Redwood trees which reach a diameter of 5 to 15 

 feet and sometimes a height of over 300 feet, dominate the stand, though on slopes 

 particularly such species as tanbark oak, white fir, Douglas fir, and western hem- 

 lock are numerous. 



Redwood produces a good all-purpose wood of ready merchantability. Its 

 stands are extremely heavy and offer an attractive field for the lumberman in 

 spite of the difficulties of handling the giant trees. Logging has been in progress 

 in this type for many years and quite a proportion of the virgin forest has been 

 cut over. A good deal of the original forest land in this type is suitable for 

 farming and will in time be cleared for cultivation or pasturage, but much of it 

 is too steep for agricultural use and should be kept forested. Practically all of 

 the redwood type is in private ownership and most of it is in the hands of large 

 lumber companies. The future of this type, therefore, depends upon the care 

 given it by these private owners. 



The customary method of logging redwood is extremely destructive of the 

 forest and leaves it in very bad condition for natural regeneration. After the 

 trees are all felled, the area is burned over by a hot slash fire. The logs are then 

 bucked and hauled out by donkey engines. This process kills most of the young 

 trees, and subsequent uncontrolled slash fires are apt to kill any reproduction 

 that might start later. A very few companies are cutting their timber con- 

 servatively and protecting the cut-over land with a view to securing subsequent 

 crops of timber. 



Redwood is one of the few conifers that coppice, from the stump, and .its 

 sprouts are vigorous and will mature into good trees. This characteristic is the 

 key to the forester's management of this type. If logging methods can be modi- 

 fied and fires controlled, the regeneration of the forest after logging can be 

 secured in this way by natural means at low cost. In some stands, however, the 

 original redwood trees are so scattered that the sprouts would be too wide spaced 

 to make a good quality of second growth. 



Artificial means, therefore, are in such cases necessary to fill in the gaps. 

 This will be done by planting nursery-grown trees. Redwood is probably the 

 most desirable of any of the native trees for this purpose; one lumber company 

 is using eucalyptus. The number of trees to be planted and the cost of the work 

 will depend wholly upon the number of sprouts already present. 



There are also cut-over areas within the redwood type which have been so 

 completely denuded by logging and fire that they must be reforested artificially in 

 order to bring them back to productive condition. Eucalyptus is suggested for 

 this purpose, but it cannot be said yet whether it will be ultimately successful 

 or not. 



In "Practical Forestry in the Pacific Northwest," Mr. E. T. Allen says of the 



