by Lisa Robinson
Over seventy years ago in 1949, it was proclaimed that “Santa Cruz County May Be[come a] Christmas Tree Center.” In fact, it wasn’t until 1943, that the first Christmas Tree farm was founded in the Santa Cruz Mountains. It was James P. Loghry’s TipTop Ranch, located on Skyline Boulevard in the northern tip of Santa Cruz County.
It was described as a reforestation demonstration and was carried out in cooperation with the county farm advisor. Formerly the 80-acre ranch grew 40 acres of fruit and vines and 15 acres of corn and vegetables. There was a vineyard growing Golden Chassela and Black Hamburg grapes and 750 prune trees.
Now the ranch had 3200 Douglas firs, which were obtained from a burnt-over area on China Grade along with 800 coulter and ponderosa pines from Salem Oregon and 50 cork oaks. An additional 2500 Douglas firs, also from China Grade, and 3000 firs from Oregon were set in beds to be planted the following year.
Six years later, farmers were “being urged to grow trees on ‘worthless’ land.” The Crest Ranch on Ben Lomond Mountain was first planted in 1948 with 13,000 seedling Douglas firs. Pictured here are Howard and Beatrice Nielsen planting fir tree seedlings on the ranch in 1949. The Nielsens bought the 135-acre ranch in 1942; land that had formerly been used to grow primarily grapes. They gradually cleared the vineyards and planted Douglas and white fir. According to Howard Nielsen the climate “causes the Christmas trees to grow more slowly than in Oregon, and consequently the branches are closer together and the trees more bushy …”
Just down the road on Empire Grade, at Camp Ben Lomond, a California Youth Authority camp and state division of forestry, there was an experimental plot. Douglas fir, redwood, and Monterey pine had been planted in the camp’s nursery. The farmers and ranchers of the county were encouraged to plant trees on “any waste land they may have.” If they did not want to go into the Christmas tree business, they were encouraged to plant for lumber, windbreaks, erosion control, and water conservation.
Some of the seedlings being grown at Camp Ben Lomond were to be used for the state’s reforestation work including replanting following the huge 1948 fire in the Pine Mountain and surrounding area of the Santa Cruz Mountains; 30-40,000 seedlings had already been planted. And while the nursery was growing seedlings from seeds principally from Oregon, the boys at the camp were also busily collecting seeds from trees growing in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
It was predicted that Christmas tree growing would become a major industry for Santa Cruz County.