Redwoods

                 So much of our Humboldt County identity revolves around redwoods.  We say that the “redwood curtain” kept us semi-isolated and self-reliant during our community’s formative years. Logging, milling and shipping redwoods was basic to our economic underpinnings after the initial gold rush that brought settlers here proved a “flash in the pan”. Redwood lumber not only built most of the homes in our towns, it was shipped south to rebuild San Francisco after 1906’s devastating earthquake and fire.  And think of how many local names of places, organizations, publications and causes have “redwood” in their name.

                 Given how significant the redwood is to us, perhaps it is appropriate to devote a little consideration to the tree in its own right.

                 Sequoia Sempervirens, the Coast Redwood, was a resident of the Humboldt area long before any of us humans arrived.  More than one hundred million years ago, vast redwood forests flourished throughout much of the northern hemisphere. The dinosaurs, whose remains now exist only in rocks or museums, once stomped under its branches.

                 Gradually climate and land formations changed, and the sequoia retreated to areas that remained favorable to it. Redwoods require a temperate climate plus lots of moisture.  Here, the coastal fog, produced where moist ocean air meets warm breezes from inland valleys, creates the ideal environment. This gave a redwood zone stretching some 500 miles along the northern California coast into Oregon, but going no more than 30 miles inland.

                 More changes and adaptations left several other relatives of our sequoia on the earth.  A deciduous species, the Dawn Redwood, is still found in pockets of China and Japan. And the Sequoia Gigantia now resides in parts of the Sierra Mountains. It is somewhat shorter and wider than our tree, prefers higher altitudes and reproduces only by seed.  Like its coastal relative, individual trees can live well over 2000 years, though the “longest living tree” title goes to another California tree, the bristlecone pine of the White Mountains

.                Reproductive adaptability is one of the contributing features of our redwoods’ success.  They can grow from the seeds in their surprisingly small cones, but most often new trees sprout from the roots and trunks of older trees.  This explains the frequent sight of an old trunk circled by a ring of younger trees – its reincarnated self.

                 Redwoods also have the advantage of being highly resistant to insects and disease. And they are very fire resistant. Wildfires can sweep through a redwood dominated forest, wiping out other trees and underbrush, while leaving the redwoods slightly scorched but alive.  Redwoods also thrive on the rich silt left by frequent floods that might kill other species.

                 These factors – particularly resistance to insects, rot and fire – not only contribute to redwoods’ millennia-long survival, but make it such a desirable building material.  They are also fast growing compared to many other trees.  A young coastal redwood can put on an inch in diameter and two feet of height in a single year.  This helps explain how, even after the clearing of virgin forests, logging of rapidly appearing second growth stands continues to fuel our economy.

                 The local economic impact of redwoods has had an additional component as well.  Tourism.  As soon as trains, highways and automobiles penetrated Humboldt in the early 20th century, people flocked here to view our magnificent trees.  Reaching over 300 feet into the sky, redwoods, swirled with fog or bathed in shafts of sunlight, give cherished moments of tranquility and awe. 

                 Few other plant species have engendered such devotion. The Save the Redwoods League, founded in 1918, successfully fought to preserve many of the groves and stands of redwoods that survive today.  Redwood inspired environmental movements clashed, often victoriously, with the timber industry.  Tree sitters make the headlines and encourage environmentalists everywhere.

                 Indeed, the lives of the redwood trees and those of the humans that now live among them are inextricably intertwined.  We can unapologetically be tree huggers.  Go ahead, hug one today.