Redwood National and State Parks, one of California's surviving redwood forests
Formed by the union of a national park and several state parks, Redwood National and State Park is a natural complex located on the northern coast of California, noted for its redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) forests. The park covers an extension of more than 50,000 hectares and has a wide variety of landscapes, including redwood forests, grasslands, beaches and coastal cliffs. In addition, the park is home to a wide range of wildlife, including black bears, bobcats, foxes, deer, sea lions, and birds. In addition to forest land and grasslands, the protected area comprises some 60km of coastline.
Located halfway between the cities of San Francisco and Portland, near the state border with Oregon, the currently protected area represents barely less than 10% of redwood forest, which was massively cleared from the mid-19th century to the early 20th century. The failed attempts at fortune in the Gold Rush stimulated a growing and lucrative forest industry, which saw in the huge trees a rich source of timber.
The protected area includes Redwood National Park, established in 1968, and Del Norte Coast, Jedediah Smith, and Praire Creek State Parks. Together, the four parks protect nearly half of all old-growth redwood forests, one of the largest and longest-lived tree species on the planet, some of which can reach 2,000 years of age. The creation of these parks is the result of collective efforts to preserve the redwood forests of the northern coast of California, hand in hand with associations such as the Save-the-Redwoods League, which in the first decades of the 20th century opposed massive deforestation of native trees.
Located on the northern coast of California, this rich protected area offers visitors the opportunity to explore the giant sequoia forests that are home to a great diversity of wildlife.
The enormous redwood trees that populate the park complex.
In addition to the named red sequoia, another typical plant of the place is the Duglasia, a type of fir that can reach 90 meters in height. Tanoaks, oaks, maples, California laurels, and red alders complete the rich forest stand. The high humidity of the place also stimulates the growth of ferns, and blueberries, brambles and raspberries are part of the undergrowth, providing food for many animal species. Its climate is temperate oceanic typical of rainforests, with characteristics of the oceanic Mediterranean climate and cool summers.
The ecosystem of the parks preserves a large amount of fauna, from the Steller sea lion on the coast, the northern spotted owl in the trees to more than 40 species of mammals, such as black bears, baribals, deer, pumas, bobcats, beavers, the North American river otter, wapiti and coyote. Its Pacific waters are also home to dolphins and gray whales, both in resident and migratory communities.
In addition, human communities such as the Yurok or the Tolowa, of which it is possible to find ethnographic representations and their relationship with the forests, have inhabited the area, at least for the last 3000 years. In recognition of the unusual ecosystems and cultural history found in the parks, UNESCO designated the space a World Heritage Site in 1980.
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