The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1908-01-29
SAVE REOW00Ds|
GREAT CALIFORNIA TREES
PASS TO GOVERNMENT
Believed This Will Save Mag
nificent Specimens of Nature
For All Time.

one OIL the most puDl1c spirited gl1tS
ever made TO the government has
come from William Kent of Chicago,
who has just decided to the United
States 295 acres of primevaT redwood
forest en- the southern slope of Mt.
Tamalpais, abort six miles from the
city f San Francisco. The land was
decided to the government with the
approval of Forester Clifford Pin
chot, chief of the United States fer
est service. The papers have now
gone to ne secretary CO the interior
ard a D, 'anation q claApg the
car yer a n jio'a' monument will De
signed at IN eally date.
This means that more C Caliscr-
MAS redwood giants will be saved
for the scientific study and pleasure
of the whole country, in fact the
whole world, for the great sequosias
are only found in the Golden State.
This grove given to the government
by Mr.. Kent is one of the only tracts
of redwood forests to be found in it's
natural state in California today.
The land is said to have cost Mr..
Kent $4,000 some years ago, but
its stand of redwood timber alone
is now valued at more than $780,
mn m fho m rlyof
The canyons Of Tamalpais which
drain into San Francisco bay, were
cut clean years ago and the redwood
obtained from them went into the
construction of the old San Francis
co. The giants on the tract to be
known as Muir Woods escaped the
ak, however, chiefly because the out
let is on the ocean side instead of
the bav side, and also because the va
rious owners of the land have for
sentimental reasons jealousy guard
ed the timber from harm or destruc-
ton. Modern methods Of logging
would make short work of the TIM
Der, and would, besides, put a hand
some profit in the hands Of the own
ers.
1t is the intention to name the ra-
tional monument "Muir Woods" at Z.
ter John Muir, the noted naturalist
The giants of Redwood canyon will
now be given permanent protection
by virtue of the act Of June s, 1906,
which provides that objects of scien-
tific interest may be declared ma
tiondl monuments If such action IS
deemed necessary for their preser-
walton and protection. This 295
acre tract will be a pleasure ground
for the people practically of the
whole of California, for within a ra-
dius of SO miles of the canyon two
thirds of the population of the en-
tire state are centeree.
The chief reason for the petma-
nent protection of the land by the
govel nment is that there is no other
redwood grove in the whole world
more accessible to so many people
The canyon is in absolutely primeval
conditicl, lot so much as scratched
by the hands of man. 1t lies within
an hours ride of San Francisco, at
the very door of hundreds of thous-
ands of people.
So long as the land remains in pri-
vate ownership there is always dan
ger that the trees will be attacked,
and Mr.. Kent feared this, but as i
national monument they will be safe
for all lines. There are, of cours-,
many flrer stands of redwood in Cal
fiornia, but there are no typical
groves owned by the United States
nor are there any which might be
acquired by the government except
at great expense.
Originally this land was part of
the old Spanish grant. Rancho Sau-
salito.' Mr.. Kent purchased the
,an1 some years ago for sum said
TO be about $4,000. To insure tn :
preservation of the redwoods for the
Instruction and enjoyment of all the
people for the years to come, he has
now decided the tract to the United
States as gift. The largest red
woods are eighteen feet in diameter
at the butt and will approach three
hundred feet in height. rising vita
perfectly straight and clean stems.
AS none of the big trees have been
cut, their age is of course somewhat
pi ohlematical, but it is safe to say
that the veterans have stood from one
thousand to fifteen hundred years.
The total stand of redwood, rough
ly estimated, is about 80 million feet
of fir, and a very considerable am
cunt of tan bark oak. The redwood
alona Of a fair Vai,,otfop hoe a ,,,ar