The Characters of Sawpit
We all know Demo for its amazing trails and great riding. Here’s a fun fact… “Demo” is short for Soquel Demonstration State Forest, and the reason it’s called that is because the forest is used to demonstrate sustained yield timber harvesting. It’s one of the forests’ key uses, along with recreation, which brings us to the story of Sawpit Trail. Each of following characters have some history and information to share with you about the area.
“I can tell you from firsthand experience that riding the new Sawpit Trail will be a whole lot more fun than working a sawpit. Back in the old days of logging in the Santa Cruz Mountains, we cut felled redwoods by laying them across a pit in the ground. I’d team up with another logger, and we’d use a long, crosscut saw, ripping the logs into planks for transport out of the forest in a wagon. Small logging operations in this area began in the 1850s and continued through 1924. At that time, 6,000 acres in the Soquel Canyon were sold to the Monterey Bay Redwood Co. From 1926 to 1942, the company clear cut the forest, moving up the canyon and removing approximately 100 million board feet of lumber, mostly redwood, some of the last stands of old-growth redwood. Could you imagine what the forest would look like if that never happened? Logging and timber harvesting, continues to be a key use of SDSF with the goal of demonstrating sustainable timber harvesting. The key word here is sustainable… It is hoped that revenue from harvesting can eventually cover operating costs.”
“There are so many fun trails in Soquel Demonstration State Forest that I love to ride. Flow Trail, Braille Trail, Ridge Trail, all of them! I am especially thrilled about the return of the Sawpit trail. While getting excited about the return of the Sawpit Trail, I started to wonder who was here before the forest got clear cut years ago? After researching on the Amhah Mutsan website I found that while collectively referred to as the ‘Ohlone’ people there was a smaller band of people called the Amhah Mutsun. Within their territory, the area of Santa Cruz was occupied by group called the Awaswas. These people along with other bands within the Amhah Mutsun region were similar because of their fishing and hunting styles, as well as their religious practices. They also were stewards of land practicing controlled burns for annual seed bearing. Now while I ride the new Sawpit trail I’ll think about the traditional land of the first people of Santa Cruz, the Awaswas and honor the land itself and the Amhah Mutsan tribe.”
“Have you ever thought about what it takes to get a new trail built? I’ve been working on trails in Soquel Demonstration State Forest for a long time, and I can tell you that a lot happens behind the scenes before we put any shovels into dirt. There is a long process of designing the trail, getting approvals, building partnerships, and funding the project before any dirt starts to move. It’s those partnerships that are especially important. There are a lot of public uses in SDSF, and the challenge for the land manager, CAL FIRE, is to balance these uses. As the demand for outdoor recreation opportunities continue to grow so does the need for community based stewardship of trails, including trail maintenance and new trail construction. That’s why private funding and volunteer organizations like MBOSC are important resources in helping CAL FIRE and other land managers build and maintain trails and keep lands open for recreation.”
Soquel Demonstration State Forest is a rich historical site and the logger, the mountain biker and the trail builder are just pieces of it. We need your help to make the return of the Sawpit complete! Please consider donating or volunteering with us. Plus every $5 you donate enters you to win your choice of Santa Cruz bike!
