What Really Goes On At Bohemian Grove

April 2024 · 2 minute read

The Bohemian Club owns 2,700 acres of redwood forests, and only a small amount of the property has been turned into a retreat. Vanity Fair and Alex Shoumatoff suggest there's been something else going on outside the carefully-groomed camp for a long time, and that's illegal logging.

Shoumatoff was approached by a former Bohemian Club member John C. Hooper, who had so strongly disagreed with the logging practices he saw going on that he became one of the most outspoken opponents of the Grove. For years, he tried to change things from within but was called the very worst thing a club member could be called: unbohemian. Over the course of a few years, Hooper grew more and more disillusioned by what he saw. Towering redwoods were marked for logging, stumps replaced trees, and hiking trails were turned into logging roads.

Club members responded that they were logging responsibly, within the guidelines of their permits, and all the money made from selling the lumber was going back into forest management. But Hooper claims otherwise, especially when the club's original forester — who opposed their logging plans — was abruptly replaced. Shoumatoff snuck into the Grove to try to find the proof, but was quickly busted before he could prove or disprove the accusations.

Two years later, SFGate reported that the club's 100-year logging permit had been revoked, forcing the club back to the drawing board to find more "modest" logging proposals.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7qL7Up56eZpOkunB9k2prb25frLWiwIyrnJqknK56qLvErGSopl2WwW6uzqGcpqGRo3qovs6vnGg%3D