Hordes of Redwoods Crowd Out Native Species

The Sonoma County Transportation Authority has been using our tax money to cut down redwood trees and for an excellent reason. According to a SCTA deputy director, redwoods are not native to the 101 corridor, which has existed for almost 150 years.  Yes, it's true that the trees have been in the local landscape since the Jurassic, a mere 180 million years, but the deputy director knows that humans have been here for at least 14,000 years.  The deputy director plans to replace the trees with genuine native vegetation.

Redwoods grow within 50 miles of the coast, and the 101 corridor, in this case, is within 50 miles of the coast, but the redwoods the deputy director has cut down were planted by people. Anything planted by people is not native by definition. The deputy director intends to plant only native items. Meanwhile Supervisor Mike McGuire is arguing that residents took the cutting down of  so many redwoods hard and that we should replant some of them. Or we could just leave 101 lined with huge red stumps--they might be a tourist attraction.