| FAQs About Marcel's Forest | ||||||||||||
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 Interpretive Stops
1. Along Aptos Creek Additional Information
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FAQs:Q: Are the redwoods in Marcel's Forest just like "General Sherman"?A: No. The famous "General Sherman" of Sequoia National Park, known as the world's largest tree, is a Sierra redwood, a close relative of the coast redwood. The Sierra redwood is scientifically named Sequoiadendron giganteum and grows only along the western slope of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The coast redwood, the type of redwood found here in Marcel's Forest, is scientifically named "Sequoia sempervirens" and grows naturally only within the fog belt from the southern tip of Oregon south to the Santa Lucia mountains just below Monterey, California. Q: Do marbled murrelets live in Marcel's Forest?A: No. Unfortunately, marbled murrelets have not been seen farther south than Big Basin State Park. The marbled murrelet, a sea bird that flies inland to nest and roost, requires a majority of old-growth trees for nesting. The bird lays its egg on the large platform branches of old-growths. Most of the trees that murrelets would deem fit for nesting were cut down long ago when the area was heavily logged for timber. Murrelets are still seen in Big Basin State Park. However, biologists who keep a close watch on the birds there report that the murrelet population has dwindled in past years compared to the numbers witnessed in the 1970s when murrelet presence in Big Basin was first verified. (See the Big Basin website for more information). Q: Why is the state park called The Forest of Nisene Marks and how did Marcel's Forest get to be called Marcel's Forest?A: Nisene Marks and her family bought the land that the park now resides on for the purpose of extracting oil. After Nisene's death, her children deeded the land to California State Parks in 1963 with the stipulation that the park be named after their mother. Marcel's Forest was named in honor of Marcel Pourroy who purchased the 25-acre parcel of land in 1956. After Marcel's death in the mid-1990s, his family sold the land to Save-the-Redwoods League, who in turn deeded the land to the state park system. Q: Why are the scar openings on redwoods called "goosepens"?A: Settlers kept their chickens and geese in these hollowed-out tree trunks, so the name goosepen was appropriately used and stuck.Q: Has sudden oak death (Phytophthora) been found on any tree in Marcel's Forest?A: No. Phytophthora ramorum, the fungus which causes Sudden Oak Death (SOD), has not been found on any of the trees in Marcel's Forest as of this writing, although it is known to have infected and killed thousands of California's oaks and tanoaks. The dead crown leaves of many SOD-infected tanoaks have been seen for the last several years along the roadside of Highway 17 in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Reports in early January 2002 that coast redwoods might be susceptible to the disease alarmed scientists, foresters, and the public. Subsequent tests by researchers Matteo Garbelotto of UC Berkeley and David Rizzo of UC Davis, confirmed that the coast redwood, as well as the Douglas-fir, is susceptible to the disease. In a news release issued in September 2002, both researchers said that it is unclear what this new finding means to the health of the redwoods and Douglas-firs. According to Rizzo, it may take years to see the full ecological impact of this destructive pathogen on some of California's most prized plant life. The California Oak Mortality Task Force website lists the latest reports and news releases about Sudden Oak Death. Q: Is the coast redwood an endangered species?A: No. The coast redwood is not an endangered plant species since it is still considered a vigorously reproducing organism. However, while the redwood itself is not endangered, the redwood region is. Many plant and animal populations which depend on the redwood region are failing. Marbled murrelets, salamanders, and salmon are all dependent on the surroundings that the redwood forest creates. Since more than 95 percent of ancient redwood forests have disappeared within the last 200 years, the future of these animals and some redwood forest plants is uncertain.
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