First Redwood Tree Farm Dedicated

Calilornia Redwood Association dnnounc€s dpprov al of Tree Farm applications lor more than 108,000 acres in Redwood Region

The dedication on August 26, 1950 of the first Tree Farm in the redwood region has been acclaimed a great success, not only by the 2,000 guests attending the ceremonies but also by many interested people who depended on the press and radio to learn about the historic event. It was quite evident from the nation-wide interest that the coast redrvood is as always the glamor gal of our forests.

The dedication ceremonies centering about the presentation of the certificate for Tree Farm No. 1 lvere held in llammond Grove, a magnificent virgin stand of massive redwoods on a big bend of the Van Duzen river, near Carlotta in Humboldt County, California. The certificate was presented by Otis R. Johnson, president of California Redwood Association, to President George B. Mcleod of Hammond Lumber Company, owner of the Van Duzen River Unit No. 1 of Hammond Tree Farms.

The speech of welcome rvas delivered by William S. Rosecrans, chairman of the California State Board of Forestry and nationally knou'n for l-ris support of forest management and conservation projects. Governor Earl Warren gave the chief address and unveiled the first Tree Farm sign in the redrvood region. Both speakers paid tribute to the Tree Farm movement as a great contribution to the cause of forestry and conservation and pledged the cooperation of the state in making it a success.

The dedication was impressive in a setting entirely in harmony lvith its purpose. Prior to the formal ceremonies the Hammond Lumber Co. served the guests with a typical lumberjack lunch.

One of the most popular features of the dedication program was the guided tours of the Van Duzen River Tree Farm. Flat bed trucks in the charge of trained foresters carried loads of 30 people on a trip over the logging roads of the Tree Farm. For many of the city people it was an exciting and strenuous trip, but they know now what a Tree Farm is and how it is operated.

They saw a producing Tree Farm of 16,000 acres made up of harvested lands, operating areas, and virgin timber, and they were told how this forest is being harvested and how trees will be grown for the future. This Tree Farm is dedicated to the continuous production of high quality timber crops.

The forester guides explained that Van Duzen is not ndcessarily a typical redu'ood Tree Farm. No two Tree Farms in the redwoods rvill be exactly alike, as there is a tremendous variation in the timber and therefore in the methods of logging. This unit lends itself readily to selective cutting, and only that form of logging has been used since operations were started in 1935. Only the large, mature trees are cut, those exceeding four feet in diameter, and this practice leaves between ten and thirty standing trees per acre.

The guides pointed out that probably the most important consideration in planning any long-range tree growing program is protection from uncontrolled fires. If money and efiort are to be invested in Tree Farms, all is lost if the growing timber is allowed to burn. The Van Duzen River Tree Farm is intensively protected from fire by fine access