THE TOURISTS who each year visit the National Parks of America are eager to learn about the great out-of-doors. As the author carried on his work as ranger-naturalist at the Mariposa Grove of Big Trees in Yosemite National Park, certain questions were repeatedly asked of him: "Where can we find a publication that will tell us about the relationships of the two Sequoias?" "What are the tallest, the largest, the oldest trees of the world?" The writer felt the need for some authoritative publication on Redwoods which would answer adequately these questions asked by tourists, and this book is primarily an endeavor to meet this need.

Several interested persons have helped to make the preparation of the manuscript possible. Sincere appreciation is expressed for the encouragement and help given by Dr. Harold C. Bryant, Assistant Director of National Parks; Mr. Joseph Dixon, Field Naturalist of National Parks; Mr. C. G. Thomson, Superintendent, Mr. C. A. Harwell, Park Naturalist, Mr. Edward Beatty, Assistant Park Naturalist, Mr. James Cole, Junior Park Naturalist, and Mr. Ralph H. Anderson, Park Photographer—all of Yosemite National Park; Mr. Newton B. Drury, Secretary of the Save-the-Redwoods League; Mr. Francis P. Farquhar, former president of the Sierra Club; and Mr. Enoch P. French, Superintendent of the Northwest District, California State Parks.

The following have rendered a special service by reading part or all of the manuscript, and have given valuable suggestions and criticisms: Dr. Willis Linn Jepson, Professor of Botany, University of California; Dr. Ralph W. Chaney, Professor of Paleontology, University of California; Dr. Herbert L. Mason, Assistant Curator of the Herbarium, University of California; Dr. A. H. Herron, Principal of Winters High School, Winters, California; Dr. Wilfred E. Powell, Department of Religious Education, Phillips University, Enid, Oklahoma; Dr. Robert G. Martin, Professor of Old Testament History, Phillips University, Enid, Oklahoma; and Messrs. Carl Sharsmith, A. W. Anderson, Reynold Carlson, and Dewey Buck, Ranger-Naturalists. The coöperation and support of the Yosemite Natural History Association made possible the publication of the book.

The Save-the-Redwoods League has been especially helpful in supplying information about the Redwoods.

Photographs have been given by Yosemite National Park, Sequoia National Park, and General Grant National Park; the Muir Woods National Monument, the Save-the-Redwoods League, and the American Forestry Association; the California Redwood Association; Mr. Gabriel Moulin; Mr. Russell Angel; Mr. Clyde Fisher; and Mr. Howard E. McMinn, the author, and the University of California Press, the publishers, of A Manual of Pacific Coast Trees. The picture of the Boole Tree is reproduced by permission of Underwood & Underwood, holders of the copyright; that of the giant cypress of Tule, copyright by the National Geographic Society, is reproduced from the National Geographic Magazine, with special permission.

THE LIFE OF A SIERRA REDWOOD AS ILLUSTRATED BY A WEDGE-SHAPED SECTION (BARK TO CENTER) FROM A BIG TREE WHICH FOR NEARLY TWENTY CENTURIES LIVED IN THE FRESNO GROVE. FAMILIAR EVENTS OF THE CHRISTIAN ERA WHICH OCCURRED WITHIN THE LIFETIME OF THIS TREE ARE NAMED AT THE LEFT; ON THE RIGHT ARE INDICATED THE CORRESPONDING PERIODS IN THE GROWTH OF THE TREE. IT WAS 57 FEET IN CIRCUMFERENCE AT BASE, 234 FEET HIGH, WHEN CUT DOWN.

Permission has been granted by Dr. Willis Linn Jepson to quote from The Silva of California and The Trees of California (these two source texts have been freely drawn upon); by the Macmillan Company to quote from The Taking of Helen and Other Prose Selections, by John Masefield; by Charles Scribner's Sons to quote from The Living Past, by John C. Merriam; by D. Appleton-Century Co. to quote from The Yosemite, by John Muir; and by the University of California Press to quote from Fray Juan Crespi and Font's Complete Diary, edited by Herbert Eugene Bolton.