Save The Redwoods League

When you walk among the giant Redwoods in northern California, or pretty much any grove of large redwoods or sequoias in California, it's easy to see that these magnificent trees belong in a park to be protected for all to enjoy. The question over whether they should be protected at all never seems to come up. For most of us, it's self evident. Our state and national park system is also “self evident” in a way, in that we assume that our parks are a constant, and have always been there, and always will.

It turns out, when you dig just a little below the surface, you realize that our parks and some of our most treasured natural wonders have not always enjoyed the protection they enjoy today. There are many instances of development on land that is today a national or state park. At Capitol Reef, there was uranium prospecting. The first visitor's lodge at Bryce Canyon was on the rim in the middle of the park. The Grand Canyon south rim has an old mine, and there was logging in the Redwoods. None of these activities were necessarily wrong at the time. Tthese treasures simply didn't have protection.

In 1917, when California completed its construction of Highway 101 north toward Oregon, not many people had been to that part of the state. Opening the paved highway made available the opportunity for many to see this pristine north coast that had been previously unavailable to the public, either because of the time issues to get that far north, or simply because it was too difficult to get there.

While people began to journey north on this new road, three in particular were interested in the giant redwood groves, and came north to see them up close. They were John Merriam a paleontologist from The University of California, Henry Osborn, President of the Museum of Natural History and Professor of Biology at Columbia University, and Madison Grant, a well known attorney and amateur anthropologist.

What they found when they arrived must have been a surprise. At the time, California was home to a growing logging industry, and the redwoods were in the middle of the mix. They were being logged at an amazing rate. In addition, while these trees were not like any other trees in the forest, and it must have been painfully obvious that they needed some special consideration and nothing was being done. Redwoods were being cut at very rapid rates. Without some kind of intervention, none would be left in a very short time.

A year later, these three men founded the Save The Redwoods League, and set about the business of protecting as much of the remaining redwood forests as possible. Their plan, as it is today, was to purchase land where giant redwood groves existed, and then donate that land back to the State of California or the National Park system.

Today, over 90 years later, the  plan is still working. The Save the Redwoods League is still very much alive, and working as a voice of conservation for the redwood and sequoia forests of California. They started with donations from only four people, but today list a membership of over 20,000. The League has been instrumental for the procurement of over 180,000 acres of land, and the creation of 53 parks and reserves, all to save the giant redwood trees for the enjoyment of future generations. The league also awards grants for projects and research related to the redwoods, and regularly makes information they learn from their research available to lawmakers and forest administrators.

To learn more about the Save The Redwoods League, or to become a member, link to their web site here.