68 
FOREST AND STREAM 
February, 1920 
FOREST^ STREAM 
FORTY-EIGHTH YEAR 
FOUNDERS OF THE AUDUBON SOCIETY 
ADVISORY BOARD 
GEORGE BIRD GRINNELL, New York, N. Y. 
OARL E. AKELEY, American Museum of Natural History, New York. 
FRANK 8. DAGGETT, Museum of Science, Eos Angeles, Oal. 
EDMTJND HELLER, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. 0. 
0. H ART MERRIAM, Biological Survey, Washington, D. 0. 
WILFRED H. OSGOOD, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, HL 
JOHN M. PHILLIPS, Pennsylvania Game Commission, Pittsburgh, Pa. 
CHARLES SHELDON, Washington, D. C. 
GEORGE SHIRAS, 8rd, Washington, D. C. 
WILLIAM BRUETTE, Editor 
JOHN P. HOLMAN, Associate Editor 
TOM WOOD, Manager 
Nine East Fortieth Street, New York City 
THE OBJECT OF THIS JOURNAL WILL BE TO 
studiously promote a healthful interest in outdoor rec- 
reation, and a refined taste for natural object s. 
August 14, 1873. 
SAVE THE REDWOODS LEAGUE 
r\ NE of the greatest single acts of conservation 
^ that could hold the attention of men who are 
interested in the future of our natural resources is 
now being worked out by the “Save the Redwoods 
League,” which was formally organized in San Fran- 
cisco in July, 1919. The object of this league is to 
save from destruction the groves of giant Redwood 
trees in California which are now being utilized for 
commercial purposes and to perpetuate them for the 
coming generations of men. Mr. Madison Grant in 
the Zoological Society Bulletin for September has 
this to say in regard to the history of the Sequoia : 
“The genus Sequoia, to which the two surviving spe- 
cies of the great trees of California belong, is a mem- 
ber of the Taxodiaceae and stands widely separated 
from other living trees. This genus together with 
closely related groups once spread over the entire 
northern hemisphere, and fossil remains of Sequoia 
and kindred genera have been found in Europe, 
Spitzbergen, Siberia, Alaska, Canada and Greenland. 
Changes in climate and other causes have led to their 
gradual extinction until the sole survivors of the 
genus are confined to California, one to high altitudes 
in the Sierra Mountains and the other to the Western 
slope of the Coast Range. Fossil leaves and cones of 
genera closely related to Sequoia occur in the rocks 
of the J urassic and of the Trias, and the members of 
the genus Sequoia were common and characteristic 
trees in California throughout the Cretaceous. 
To give some idea of what this bald statement 
means, these trees, virtually in their present form, 
flourished in California before the mammals devel- 
oped from their humble, insectivorous ancestors of 
the Mesozoic and while the dinosaurs were the most 
advanced form of land animals. The mountains upon 
which these trees now stand contain fossil records of 
early Sequoia-like trees, proving that this group 
abounded before the rocks that constitute the present 
Sierras and Coast Ranges were laid down in the 
shallow seas, to be upheaved later and eroded into 
their present shapes. In the base of Mt. Shasta and 
under its lava flows, the ancient rocks are marked 
with imprints of their leaves and cones. Such an- 
tiquity is to be measured not by hundreds or thou- 
sands, but by millions of years. 
While the duration of the family, of the genus, 
and even the existing species, or species so closely 
allied as to be almost indistinguishable, extends 
through such an immense portion of the earth’s his- 
tory, the life of the living trees is correspondingly 
great. 
The Sequoia is not only the oldest living thing on 
earth, but it is the tallest tree on earth, and we 
have no reason, so far as our paleo-botanical stu- 
dies have gone, to believe that there ever existed 
on earth either individual trees or forests that sur- 
passed in size, in girth, in height or in grandeur, the 
Sequoias of California. And these are the trees 
that modern commercialism is cutting for grape 
stakes, for railroad ties and for shingles.” 
The League purposes to purchase Redwood 
groves by private subscriptions and by county bond 
issues ; to secure a state bond issue to buy the finest 
Redwood groves along state highways ; to establish 
through Federal aid a National Redwoods Park; 
to obtain through state and county aid the protec- 
tion of timbers along the scenic highways now in 
course of construction throughout California and 
to encourage the state to purchase cut-over Red- 
wood areas for reforestation by natural means, or by 
replanting where repeated fires have made sprout 
reproduction impossible. 
Committees have been formed to study the sub- 
jects of Redwood distribution, variation and the 
most efficient commercial use of Redwood products, 
in the belief that nearly all the purposes for which 
this lumber is now used can be adequately served 
by second growth trees. The League is at present 
under the active direction of Dr. John C. Merriam, 
of the University of California, Berkeley California, 
and all applications for membership should be ad- 
dressed to him. Subscriptions also of any amount 
are greatly needed. 
FOR THE STUDY OF MAMMALS 
The American Society of Mammalogists was 
founded at Washington, April 3, 1919. 
For a long time some students of mammals have 
had in mind the organization of such a society and 
mammalogists all over the country have felt and ex- 
pressed much interest in the project. On April 3, 
sixty mammalogists from different parts of the 
United States and Canada met and organized the 
society. Its objects are to promote the study, to 
issue publications, and to aid research. The work 
covers a wide field of technical and popular investi- 
gation. 
The first number of the Journal of Mammalogy 
has just been issued. Its expressed purpose is to 
be of use to all who are interested in the science 
whether they have to deal with its technical side, or 
with the work of museums, or with work in the 
field, either as big game hunter, or as faunal natural- 
ist. A portion of the Journal will no doubt be de- 
voted to life histories, distribution, and the habits 
of mammals, so that the balance between the purely 
technical and the popular side of the science may be 
well preserved. For many reasons such a balance 
must be preserved. Public support of the Society 
and its Journal will be needed and, besides, the in- 
terest which many people feel in mammals must be 
