Save the Redwoods League Continues Logging the Sequoia Forests California. September 2023: Save the Redwoods League is actively clearcut logging upper Long Meadow Grove and will be begin logging Packsaddle Grove next.
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In just a few decades, hundreds of thousands of acres of old-growth redwoods on private lands were logged. By the 1960s, industrial logging had removed almost ninety percent of all the original redwoods.
Today, only 5% of the old-growth redwood forests remain. The majority of these 100,000 acres of remaining forests are found in assorted sections of different California state, local, and national parks.
Many of California's old-growth redwoods — the world's tallest living things that can grow to more than 300 feet high and live 2,000 years — were cut down between the 1800s and the 1970s for decks, paneling, and even fence posts and railroad ties. Modern environmental laws and the creation of public parks ended it.
Only on the Northern California coast-- Not one but three giant redwoods offer motorists the opportunity to steer their wheels through a living tree. All are right off US Highway 101, known as the Redwood Highway, within an hour or so drive of the historic seaport of Eureka.
The development of chainsaws and tracked bulldozers in the 1930s led to the massive increase in the rate of logging of redwood trees. Acres of ancient redwoods could now be cut down in just days. It was the post World War II housing and economic boom caused the majority of old-growth redwoods to be clear cut.
Coast redwoods sometimes regenerate as seedlings but more often grow from sprouts, which start easily on lateral roots or from stumps or downed logs. Young redwoods grow quickly—two to six feet a year—so that a 20-year-old tree will often be 50 feet tall and about eight inches in diameter.
Despite the difference in growing conditions from their native range, the giant redwoods seem to be enjoying the Scottish climate. Many of the biggest specimens in the UK are found in Scotland, with fine examples growing in other National Trust for Scotland gardens, such as Geilston and Craigievar, as well as Holmwood.
With now over half a million to discover in the nation's forests, why not head to your local forest to see if you can discover one of nature's giants! You can see magnificent examples of coast and giant redwoods at Forestry England sites across England, more information can be found here.