Much of the forest bordering U.S. Highway 101 on the peninsula is even-aged second growth that regrew after past logging, recognizable by its uniform height and spacing. Interspersed are remnant patches of structurally complex old growth. The contrast between the two records the region's long history of timber harvest on lands outside the protected park interior.
Look closely at the forest right along the road and you can read its history in the trees. In a lot of these stretches the timber stands all one height, all one age, ranks of trees that came up together after the saws went through decades ago. That's second growth, forest growing back on cut-over ground. Then now and again you'll pass a patch of the real thing, an uneven tangle of giants and snags and saplings all mixed together. Once you learn to spot the difference, you'll see the whole worked-over history of this country written in the woods.
Photo: Niagara66 · CC BY-SA 4.0
