The Redwoods Richard St. Barbe Baker stands identifed for all time with the efforts that saved the California coastal redwoods. He wrote about them in his numerous widely-published books and articles and campaigned tirelessly from the lecture platform and in every forum available to him on several continents. During the 1930's, while a resident of England, he traveled to the redwoods for nine consecutive years, working with the Save the Redwoods League and other local groups in the trenches. He was a leader in educating the public, in raising money, and in persuading governmental authorities and business interests of the necessity of protecting the redwoods. Throughout the remainder of his long life, St. Barbe never ceased in expressing paeans of wonder at the majesty of the redwoods. He returned to the coastal redwoods frequently, even traveling there from New Zealand on the honeymoon of his second marriage. On May 22, 1982, at ninety-two years of age, he was there for the dedication of Redwood National Park as a United Nations World Heritage site. He died less than three weeks later. However, the excerpt that is included below from his book The Redwoods, is not about the coastal redwoods, but about the Sierra redwoods, the "Big Trees." He visited these first, in 1930, and trod in the footprints of John Muir on his way to the California coast. excerpt: The Balance of Nature
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