Muir Woods National Monument Improvements – Muir Woods National Monument CA

Description

The CCC did extensive work in Muir Woods National Monument.

The National Park Service site summarizes their activity:

“The men began work in Muir Woods and the surrounding Tamalpais State Park. Projects included a revetment (rockwork stream banks) in Redwood Creek; construction of a stone-faced concrete bridge on Fern Creek; construction of utility buildings and benches; and the construction of the Sidney B. Cushing Memorial Amphitheater (the “Mountain Theater”), near Rock Springs, on Mt. Tamalpais. The CCC completed its last project in Muir Woods in May 1941, and was disbanded shortly thereafter.”   (https://www.nps.gov/)

Not everything the CCC did was ideal by modern standards, of course. Stream channelization was very popular in the middle of the 20th century, but knowledge has advanced since then.  As one park report notes:

“Unfortunately, some of these projects disrupted natural processes and degraded ecosystem health. For example, the removal of woody debris and the construction of bank revetments or rock walls along 3,541 feet of Redwood Creek prevented the formation of natural pools and undercut banks, which degraded or eliminated the complex habitat that spawning and juvenile coho salmon and steelhead require. Floods were curtailed, and when they were, bare mineral soils were no longer exposed, diminishing the opportunity for coast redwood seeds to sprout into seedlings.”   (NPCA Park Report)