Vol. XXXI, No. 1 



WASHINGTON 



January, 1917 



OUR BIG TREES SAVED 



IN THE scenic heart of the Sequoia 

 National Park, the only section of 

 the magnificent 160,000 -acre play- 

 ground situated in California which is 

 at the present time accessible to motor- 

 driven and horse-drawn vehicles, stands 

 a group of trees, the Sequoia washing- 

 toniana, known as the Giant Forest, and 

 in this forest grow the loftiest and most 

 venerable living things that Nature has 

 produced. 



The Sequoia National Park was con- 

 stituted a government preserve to safe- 

 guard these very trees, some of which 

 were 2,000 years old when the Christian 

 era dawned. But it was a preservation 

 that did not protect, for the very acres 

 upon which grew the finest specimens of 

 the Sequoia zvashingtoniana remained in 

 the possession of private parties to whom 

 they had been patented before the park 

 was created. 



Some months ago the Department of 

 the Interior, realizing that the constantly 

 increasing value of timber had become 

 a rapidly growing temptation to these 

 owners to convert the trees into lumber, 

 secured from Congress an appropriation 

 of $50,000 to purchase the coveted land. 

 When the effort was made to buy the 

 holdings, however, it was discovered that 

 the owners could not fairly part with 

 their sequoia trees except on condition 

 that adjacent property be purchased also, 

 the supplementary lands bringing the 

 price up to $70,000. 



After learning from their expert ap- 

 praisers that the actual market value of 

 the timber standing on these holdings 

 amounted to $156,000, and that the price 



of $70,000 was, therefore, most reason- 

 able, showing that the owners wished to 

 cooperate in their preservation, the de- 

 partment secured an option on the land 

 for six months. 



With the expiration of the option only 

 three weeks off, and with no prospect 

 of being able to secure the necessary 

 additional appropriation of $20,000 from 

 Congress during its pre-holiday session, 

 the Department of the Interior had prac- 

 tically lost all hope of saving these most 

 highly prized of all trees for the Ameri- 

 can people. 



In this predicament one of the officials 

 of the department recalled the splendid 

 work which has been done for a number 

 of years by the National Geographic So- 

 ciety in stimulating public interest in the 

 preservation of the nation's playgrounds 

 and in safeguarding our song birds and 

 wild life. Why not appeal to this Societv, 

 whose more, than half a million members 

 represent every State in the Union, and 

 who would be deeply interested, individu- 

 ally as well as collectively, in the preser- 

 vation of this forest wonderland? The 

 suggestion was adopted and the appeal 

 was submitted to the Society's Board of 

 Managers. 



As was so earnestly hoped, the So- 

 ciety's governing body immediately appre- 

 ciated the exceptional opportunity which 

 was about to be lost to the American 

 people, and at a meeting attended by 

 every member of the Board excepting 

 two, who were out of town, gladly ap- 

 propriated the necessary $20,000. And 

 thus was accomplished a unique coopera- 

 tion of a great national scientific societv 



