DESCRIPTION OF ECOSYSTEM
WHERE: Northern, CA/ Oregon border
BIOME: Temperate Coniferous Forest
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| http://www.savetheredwoods.org/education/images/height_comparisons_web.gif |
CONSERVATION STATUS: Critical/ Endangered
SIZE: 5,100 square miles/ 13, 300 kilometers/ slightly larger than Connecticut. Average size of trees range from 320-370 feet.
NATIONAL/STATE PARKS: Redwood National state park, Del Norte Coast, Jedediah Smith, and Prairie Creek Redwoods State Parks GLOBAL SCALE: Regional  SPECIES: 40 mammal, 400 bird, and 200 exotic species . *Northern spotted owl is an endangered species. Other endangered species are Brown Pelican, Tidewater Goby, Bald Eagle, Chinook Salmon, Northern Spotted Owl, and Steller's Sea Lion MAP
 http://oldphotoguy.com/p333085964/h1EDD0FE2#h229aca55 | 
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HUMAN IMPACTS
PAST: UGLY
The ancient costal redwood tree population spanned over 2 million acres on the coast of california and Oregon. The Native Americans were the first peoples to settle around northern CA which contained the largest amounts of coastal redwoods. This is was about 3,300 years ago when the trees were still abundant. There impact on the redwoods were not that bad. They used the fallen planks from the redwoods to build houses to log their people. This didn't require any cutting down or logging of redwoods. By the time the Gold rush started around 1850 there had been more than 95% of the original coastal redwood forest have been cut down. This was due to the amounts of people moving into this region. These Euro-Americans had practically kicked the majority of the natives out of there land and used the Redwoods as raw materials for their homes. in time, logging these redwoods became a huge a market because its size, durability, and workability made it perfect for people and there homes. By the 19th century most of these Redwoods had vanished and with new technology like the locomotive more and more of trees were cut down. Sadly, most of the forest were also used for private industry.
By the 1910s, some concerned people began to worry about the preservation of the last bits of redwoods. The Save-the-Redwoods League was developed by these concerned individuals, and eventually lead to the establishment of the redwood preserves of Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park, and Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. Paleontologists Henry Fairfield Osborn of the American Museum of Natural History, Madison Grant of the New York Zoological Society, and John C. Merriam of the University of California at Berkeley officially started the Save-the-Redwoods League in 1918. This non-profit organization was dedicated to buying redwood tracts for preservation. Through numerous donations and matching state funds, the League eventually bought over 100,000 acres of redwood forest between 1920 and 1960. In the 1920s, the state of California created three state parks. Every since than the state park system has protected the parks’ natural and cultural resources and have allowed visitors to come see these ancient forest.
PRESENT: GOOD
The future for this ecosystem looks promising. The last 5% of the Redwood population is protected by 82% of parks/reserves. Moreover, there are no negative human impacts on the ecosystem. Therefore, the plant species will continue to grow and no harm will be put on it. The National and State parks protect almost 38,00 acres of old growth Redwoods. The Redwoods are now used predominately for the use of tourism and vacation. Thousands of people come to the parks year round to capture the amazing sights of these gigantic trees. There are no hotels or cabins in the actual National park but you can stay in small towns like Klamath, Requa, and Orick which are very close to the park. In the state parks there are over 251 campsites you can stay at. There are almost 200 miles of hiking ground throughout the park. Through the wet and rainy seasons it may be harder to walk through these trails or they may even be wiped out completely by high streams. Another popular facet of the parks are horse back riding and biking. Throughout the park there are certain trails that allow you to do so. The United states also marked the Redwood forest as a World Heritage site on September 5, 1980 and a international Biosphere reserve on June 30 1983.
WHAT WE CAN DO!
The human impacts on the redwoods in present time are exceptional due to the protection of the many state parks and national park. But, as the graph above shows, there are still 18% of the ancient redwoods unprotected. I believe, since these trees are an endangered species there should be laws or some type of bill that bans or removes any type of private owned land from the area. The rest of the redwoods remaining should be marked as a national monument that sets restrictions on public use. We should also support the save-the-Redwoods league by donating money to preserve the Redwoods. For more information you could be directed to there site by clicking this link http://www.savetheredwoods.org/league/index.shtml
There have also been studies that say climate change could be a real threat to this ecosystem. They believe the rising temperatures could effect the grow of Redwoods.
SOURCES
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redwood_National_and_State_Parks
The ancient costal redwood tree population spanned over 2 million acres on the coast of california and Oregon. The Native Americans were the first peoples to settle around northern CA which contained the largest amounts of coastal redwoods. This is was about 3,300 years ago when the trees were still abundant. There impact on the redwoods were not that bad. They used the fallen planks from the redwoods to build houses to log their people. This didn't require any cutting down or logging of redwoods. By the time the Gold rush started around 1850 there had been more than 95% of the original coastal redwood forest have been cut down. This was due to the amounts of people moving into this region. These Euro-Americans had practically kicked the majority of the natives out of there land and used the Redwoods as raw materials for their homes. in time, logging these redwoods became a huge a market because its size, durability, and workability made it perfect for people and there homes. By the 19th century most of these Redwoods had vanished and with new technology like the locomotive more and more of trees were cut down. Sadly, most of the forest were also used for private industry.
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| http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2009/hemmeric_nata/history.jpg |
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| http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Yurok_plankhouse05.jpg |
PRESENT: GOOD
The future for this ecosystem looks promising. The last 5% of the Redwood population is protected by 82% of parks/reserves. Moreover, there are no negative human impacts on the ecosystem. Therefore, the plant species will continue to grow and no harm will be put on it. The National and State parks protect almost 38,00 acres of old growth Redwoods. The Redwoods are now used predominately for the use of tourism and vacation. Thousands of people come to the parks year round to capture the amazing sights of these gigantic trees. There are no hotels or cabins in the actual National park but you can stay in small towns like Klamath, Requa, and Orick which are very close to the park. In the state parks there are over 251 campsites you can stay at. There are almost 200 miles of hiking ground throughout the park. Through the wet and rainy seasons it may be harder to walk through these trails or they may even be wiped out completely by high streams. Another popular facet of the parks are horse back riding and biking. Throughout the park there are certain trails that allow you to do so. The United states also marked the Redwood forest as a World Heritage site on September 5, 1980 and a international Biosphere reserve on June 30 1983.
WHAT WE CAN DO!
The human impacts on the redwoods in present time are exceptional due to the protection of the many state parks and national park. But, as the graph above shows, there are still 18% of the ancient redwoods unprotected. I believe, since these trees are an endangered species there should be laws or some type of bill that bans or removes any type of private owned land from the area. The rest of the redwoods remaining should be marked as a national monument that sets restrictions on public use. We should also support the save-the-Redwoods league by donating money to preserve the Redwoods. For more information you could be directed to there site by clicking this link http://www.savetheredwoods.org/league/index.shtml
There have also been studies that say climate change could be a real threat to this ecosystem. They believe the rising temperatures could effect the grow of Redwoods.
SOURCES
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