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REDWOOD FOREST HISTORY |
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Logging of the Coastal Redwood Forests started in the 1820's in the hills across the bay from San Francisco.
Between 1850 & 1900 logging evolved into the major industry of Northern California. By 1930, with the aid of the Industrial Revolution, most of the virgin Redwood Forests were lumber.
It is estimated that in 1840 there were 2,000,000 acres of Virgin Redwood Forest. In 1964, a survey conducted by the Save the Redwoods League, The Sierra Club and National Geographic Magazine, concluded that only 300,000 acres of Virgin Redwood Forest remained (12%). Only 50,000 acres were protected in public preserves (3%). Saving virgin Redwood Forest involves more than placing the trees in protective custody because although the trees are mighty the ecosytem is fragile. Clearcut logging of the surrounding watershed destroys that delicate balance and Redwood trees will not survive.
1769 The first European botanist to record seeing the tree, which he called 'Palo Colorado',
was Fray Juan Crespi, a member of the Don Gaspar de Portola expedition. |