…you’ve seen them all.” Ronald Reagan may or may not have actually said that. It’s a matter of some debate. In case you need one more thing to worry about, time may be running out to see the mammoth old-growth redwood trees.
Before the California Gold Rush, the majestic trees that can live as long as 2,500 years, flourished on 2.2 million acres along the northern California and southern Oregon coast. That’s down to 1.6 million acres, all but seven percent of that is second growth, however. Only 150,000 acres remain in fragmented patches. Almost two centuries of commercial logging, development, road building and agriculture, and yes, fire suppression have drastically reduced the numbers of the massive trees. And the future is not bright for the second growth.
Native Americans regularly burned the forests to clear out undergrowth. Thick bark protected the ancient trees. Modern fire suppression has allowed forest debris and skinny second-growth to surround the old-growth that survived clear-cut logging. The climate change that so many, including the EPA deny, means fiercer and more frequent fires.
But as St. Ron did, in fact, say, “I saw them; there is nothing beautiful about them, just that they are a little higher than the others.”
The Redwood National Park is one of the least crowded of our National Parks.
