Editing Sierra Nevada (section)

===Logging===
{{See also|Logging in the Sierra Nevada}}
[[File:DeQuille 137 Timbering the Mines.jpg|thumb|[[Philip Deidesheimer|Square-set timbering]] as used in the [[Comstock Lode|Comstock mines]], 1877.]]
Logging in the Sierra Nevada has significantly impacted the landscape. The logging industry in the Sierra Nevada started in the early 1800s, when settlers relied on hand tools and ox-teams.<ref name="Johnston 1997">{{cite book |last=Johnston |first=Hank |date=1997 |title=The Whistles Blow No More |publisher=Stauffer Publishing |isbn=0-87046-067-6}}</ref>{{rp|103, 127}} Before the California Gold Rush, the industry was relatively small, and most of the lumber used in the state was imported. However, as the demand for lumber to support the mining industry increased, logging became a major industry in the region.

Initially, most of the lumber produced in California was used in mining. The [[Comstock Lode]] was a major center for logging, with operations supplying lumber for the construction of mine structures, such as tunnels, shafts, and buildings, as well as fuel for the mines. [[Dan DeQuille]] observed in 1876, "the Comstock Lode may truthfully be said to be the tomb of the forests of the Sierra. Millions upon millions of feet of lumber are annually buried in the mines, nevermore to be resurrected."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.historynet.com/square-set-timbering-v-flume-kept-comstock-lode-running-strong/ |title=Square-Set Timbering and the V-Flume Kept the Comstock Lode Running Strong |last1=Straka |first1=Tom |last2=Wynn |first2=Bob |date=January 17, 2018 |website=History.net |publisher=HistoryNet LLC |access-date=December 27, 2022 |quote=The Comstock Lode may truthfully be said to be the tomb of the Sierras. Millions upon millions of feet of lumber are annually buried in the mines, nevermore to be resurrected. When once it is planted in the lower levels, it never again sees the light of day. …For a distance of 50 or 60 miles, all the hills of the eastern slope of the Sierras have been to a great extent denuded of trees of every kind; those suitable only for wood as well those fit for the manufacture of lumber for use in the mines. |archive-date=December 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221227204458/https://www.historynet.com/square-set-timbering-v-flume-kept-comstock-lode-running-strong/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the late 1800s, the [[History of the lumber industry in the United States#Twentieth century|logging industry moved westward]] due to the depletion of [[Pinus strobus|white pine]] forests in the upper Midwest.<ref name="Johnston 2011">{{Cite book |last=Johnston |first=Hank |title=Rails to the Minarets: The Story of the Sugar Pine Lumber Company |publisher=Stauffer Publishing |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-9846848-0-9 |edition=Fourth Edition (Revised) |location=Fish Camp, California}}</ref>{{rp|9–14}}  This shift was encouraged by the positive portrayal of the Sierra Nevada as a promising timber region. In 1859, [[Horace Greely]] marveled, "I never saw anything so much like good timber in the course of any seventy-five miles' travel as I saw in crossing the Sierra Nevada."<ref>{{cite book |last=Horace |first=Greely |date=1859 |title=Overland Journey: New York to San Francisco the Summer of 1859 |url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moa/AFK4378.0001.001?rgn=main;view=fulltext |location=New York |publisher=C.M. Saxton, Barker & Company |page=280 |access-date=December 31, 2022 |archive-date=March 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307170906/https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moa/AFK4378.0001.001?rgn=main;view=fulltext |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:HenryERoberts-BaseofFallenSequoia.jpg|thumb|[[Clearcutting]] in [[Converse Basin Grove|Converse Basin]] resulted in a loss of 8,000 [[Sequoiadendron giganteum|giant sequoia]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.inventionandtech.com/content/log-flume-1 |title=Log Flume |last=Zimmerman |first=Robert |date=Fall 1998 |website=American Heritage's Invention and Technology |publisher=American Heritage |access-date=December 23, 2022 |archive-date=November 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221120055024/https://www.inventionandtech.com/content/log-flume-1 |url-status=live }}</ref> ]]
The logging industry experienced significant growth in the late 1800s due to several factors. [[Timber and Stone Act|The Timber and Stone Act of 1878]] allowed individuals to claim ownership of old-growth timber tracts, which were later consolidated under [[Joint-stock company|joint-stock companies]], such as those founded by Midwestern lumber magnates.<ref name="McDougall">{{cite book |last=McDougall Weiner |first=Jackie |date=2009 |title=Timely Exposures: The Life and Images of C.C. Curtis, Pioneer California Photographer |location=Tulare, California |publisher=Tulare County Historical Society}}</ref>{{rp|142–144}} These companies had the financial resources to transport timber from remote locations and build sawmills near the tracks of the [[History of the Southern Pacific|Southern Pacific]] railroad which connected the [[San Joaquin Valley]] to the rest of the state in the 1870s. This facilitated the nationwide distribution of lumber. In addition, technological advancements, such as the [[shay locomotive]] and the [[log flume#V-Flumes|v-shaped log flume]], made it easier to transport lumber across mountainous terrain.<ref name="Johnston 1997" />