A reservoir nearly destroyed one of Northern California's old-growth redwood forests before it became a national monument. What stopped it was an unexpected action: a private landowner gave a large part of his own land to the federal government instead of allowing a water company to flood the area. According to the National Park Service's history of Muir Woods, the landowner was William Kent, a Chicago businessman. Along with his wife, Elizabeth Thacher Kent, he had purchased 611 acres of redwood forest in Marin County, California, in 1905. Three years later, that purchase played a direct role in creating Muir Woods National Monument. This was not a wealthy family buying land for recreation; it was a conservation decision. It was a choice made twice: to buy the forest, then to give most of it away.
Who was William Kent, and why did he care about this forest?
