Van de Mark, Dave

Biographical Information

Dave Van de Mark moved to Humboldt County as a young college student in early summer of 1963. He took a summer job in one of the local sawmills and then enrolled in Humboldt State University (then Humboldt State College). He soon became aware of the effort to build public support for creating a Redwood National Park and joined the Sierra Club to work toward that end. Out of necessity, he became the photographer for the park proponents. He was self-taught in both photography and the developing process.

He was an early member, board member (1966) and then president of the Citizens for a Redwood National Park (CRNP), an Arcata based group whose goal was to be a clear voice of North Coast park proponents, to provide substantive information on the park issue, and to promote park legislation that would benefit the local communities. Sierra Club representatives assisted with the formation of the CNRP but the two organizations were independent from one another, though there was some overlapping membership. (A card file containing member's names and addresses was lost in the 2001 fire that destroyed the Northcoast Environmental Center.)

Once the Redwood National Park was created it became apparent to Mr. Van de Mark and many others that the ongoing logging on Redwood Creek upstream and upslope of the new park was endangering the wellbeing of the park areas, especially the Tall Trees Grove. Dave and many other activists then became involved in a long struggle to expand the park by including more of the Redwood Creek watershed. Dave was employed by the Sierra Club as a Conservation Department Assistant from June 1968 until mid 1970.

Dave was one of a handful of individuals who led educational excursions into the affected areas. A wide variety of persons went on these excursions, including a significant number of public officials from all levels of government. In the Oral History interviews included in this collection Dave shared memories conveying the energy, urgency, and flavor of the park advocacy activities in that era. The photos he took during this time show the extent of the logging and its impact on the watershed. Many of these photographs were used in materials published by conservation organizations and by news publications. Van de Mark's photos were central to educating legislators and the general public about conditions within and surrounding the park. He was certainly one of the central figures in the effort.

Van de Mark's comments in a 1984 letter to the RNP Superintendent about the collection shed some light on the level of effort and commitment the expansion proponents exerted: "Literally thousands of miles of hiking (no trails mainly); dozens of boat trips down Redwood Creek; perhaps three dozen or more aerial reconnaissance flights; and over 90,000 auto miles were logged in this effort. Of course all the land was private and 'hostile' then. Almost all activities involved secrecy and trespassing (Oh, are there some funny stories I can tell!)....""When a crisis needing documentation came up or the time allowed, you did it...."

In 1976 Mr. Van de Mark gave an impassioned statement before the Conservation, Energy, and Natural Conservation Subcommittee of the Committee on Government Operations. In it he mentions the key issues that prompted him, and thousands of other citizens, to push for an expansion of the Park. A copy of this testimony is attached (as a PDF file) in Appendix A.

More biographical information about Dave Van de Mark and his advocacy activities can be found in the transcripts of the two 2006 oral history interviews conducted in conjunction with the processing of this collection. An additional interview, recorded in 1999, is available in audio format, only.