Who cut down the redwoods?

Logging on this land stretches still further back to the mid-1800s, when white settlers seized it from the Coast Yuki and Northern Pomo tribes, who had called the land home for thousands of years. After the land came under the ownership of Caspar Lumber Company, loggers clear-cut nearly all of the old-growth forest.



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Giant old-growth redwoods were felled by pairs of “choppers” using double-bitted axes and long crosscut saws. Felling a single tree could take a week.

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Only 5% of Redwoods are Left Only 5% of the original old-growth coast redwood forests that flourished on the Pacific Coast are left. Because redwoods are extremely resistant to insects, fire and rot, they are treasured for building and 95% of them have been cut down since the 1850s 26.

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Fewer than 120,000 acres, or 5 percent, of the original redwood forest remains today. It's a tragedy to have lost most of the ancient redwoods; however, science-based forest restoration holds the key to bringing back what we've lost.

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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.

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As its nickname suggests, giant or coastal redwoods thrive in the moist, humid climate of the Northern California coast, where marine fog delivers precise conditions necessary for its growth. The fog adds moisture to the soil and helps trap it there by lowering the rate of evaporation.

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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.

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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.

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Coast redwoods can live longer than 2,000 years. A mature redwood forest is composed of trees 500-1,000 years old on average. The trees in this redwood grove are approximately 65 years old. Coast redwoods can grow three to ten feet per year.

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