California Coast & Ocean

A Rhododendron Returns
A willingness to adapt and change and to learn from experience may well be key to many of the successes at Muir Woods. Staff and volunteers are always on the lookout for early signs that something isn’t working, so they can fix it as soon as possible. For example, they quickly realized that their elaborate new critter-proof trash cans were making too much racket and disturbing the visitor experience. “We have an engineer out now looking for solutions,” Monroe said.

Traffic jams and full parking lots are perennial problems, particularly in summer, although shuttles from east Marin, instituted in 2004, are helping. Shuttle connections to the Sausalito Ferry were added in 2007, and the park recently received a special grant to acquire hybrid vehicles for the shuttle service. Another serious problem--one with no remedy in sight, so far--is Sudden Oak Death, which is now reaching epidemic levels. “Our whole understory is dying, and all the old oaks around us,” Monroe said. Climate change will add a whole new raft of problems, not least of which will be whether the redwoods, which need moisture and cool temperatures, can adapt.

There remain many things that the staff would like to learn about the park--for example, how tall the trees are exactly (they recently received funding to measure them), and what life is like in the canopy. Monroe would particularly like to learn more about the bats: An initial survey found that 15 different species use Muir Woods, but because the staff is rarely there at night, they don’t know much about the nocturnal creatures. “The survey showed that they tuck themselves between leaves and even use fire scars in the trees as caves,” she said. “We were surprised at how much of the forest they use.”

Monroe hopes that this centennial year will provide time for reflection about the park’s mission. “We’re hoping that a lot of profound questions will be asked this year--like, can we handle a million visitors per year?” Overcrowding not only wears on the park, it also keeps visitors from experiencing the awesome nature of the forest. Park managers are now considering a range of ways to achieve a healthy balance between people and nature, from requiring reservations to establishing quiet zones.

The challenges are endless, but there is also much to celebrate. Leopard lilies are growing in the forest again, and mushrooms and azaleas. Quail, chipmunks, pileated woodpeckers, and a huge flock of band-tailed pigeons have returned, not to mention the river otters. Bobcats, coyotes, and foxes are common. “There are all these exciting things that are giving us hope,” Monroe said.

As part of the park’s centennial celebration on January 9, 2008, volunteers and staff planted a locally rare Pacific rhododendron (Rhododendron macrophyllum) in the forest. The rhododendrons, which can grow to 40 feet, have been found in only three locations in Marin, the southernmost part of its range, but Friedel said that botanists believe it was once much more common locally. This year the nursery will plant more populations in Muir Woods and monitor them. The rhododendron’s return is just one more sign of the regeneration of this park where wildflowers had once all but disappeared--a sign of what can happen when you combine hope with hard work.