SAVING THE REDWOODS 



527 



the fact that few, if any, of the lumber 

 companies have proved profitable invest- 

 ments, if their failure to pay dividends is 

 a test of their commercial success. 



THE REDWOOD RANGE IS 450 MIEES EONG 



The original range of the redwoods 

 extended from Monterey north along the 

 California coast to a point a few miles 

 over the Oregon line, embracing an area 

 with a length of about 450 miles and a 

 width not exceeding 40 miles. The nar- 

 rowness of this range seems to be de- 

 termined 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 redwood belt. 



Many natives believe that the redwoods 

 attract fog, but of course it is the mois- 

 ture of the fog deposited on the tops of 

 the trees that determines their inland dis- 

 tribution. These forests are sometimes 

 so wet that the dripping from the high 

 crowns is like a thin rain, and at Red- 

 wood Creek in summer it is hard often- 

 times to tell whether it is raining or not, 

 so saturated with moisture are the foli- 

 age and the trunks when the fog darkens 

 the forest. 



In the southern and larger half of their 

 range, the redwoods are somewhat broken 

 up in more or less isolated groves, and 

 the axe of the lumberman has now 

 separated these groves still more widely. 

 In the north there is an almost continu- 

 ous series of solid stands of redwoods, 

 constituting 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 counties. 



THE VAEUE OP A EIVING TREE EAR EXCEEDS 

 THE VALUE OE ITS TIMBER 



South of San Francisco the redwoods 

 are now found chiefly 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 interesting 

 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 public 

 resort or along a highway far exceeds 

 the value of its lumber. All these south- 

 ern 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 Tamal- 

 pais, are easily accessible and show some- 

 thing of the forest grandeur formerly 

 found in the region of the Golden Gate. 

 The preservation of this grove is entirely 

 due to the wise munificence of Mr. Wil- 

 liam Kent, who presented it to the nation. 



To the north, Sonoma County has pur- 

 chased for public use the Armstrong 

 Grove, and Mendocino 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 derive a large rev- 

 enue 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 the observer finds it 

 difficult to distinguish between one grove 

 and the next. 



Four great forests stand out promi- 

 nently: They are (1st) the groves along 

 the South Fork of the Eel River and 

 the west bank of the main Eel, culminat- 

 ing in the Bull Creek Flat and the Dyer- 

 ville Flat; (2d) the immense Redwood 

 Creek grove; (3d) the Klamath River 

 groves, and (4th) the Smith River groves 

 at Mills Creek, in Del Norte County. Each 

 has its peculiar beauty, and it is difficult 

 to choose among them, but it is the trees 

 of Humboldt County, along the South 

 Fork of the Eel River, that at the pres- 

 ent moment are most in peril. 



ITS VIRTUES IMPERIE THE REDWOOD 



The groves along the South Fork of 

 the Eel River are traversed by the State 

 highway, now in the process of construc- 

 tion. The building of this highway made 

 the timber accessible, and the immediate 



