One of the Forestry Branch’s principle functions was to undertake ecological restoration. From 1947 – 1972 there was a revolutionary change in priorities of management in the national parks. Science became the leading voice, replacing landscape architecture as the new motivator. This both stemmed from and caused the park’s reappraisal of resource management. The priority became ecosystem preservation and moved away from visitor use. In Giant Forest, visitor use was taking a toll on the big trees, causing rapid deterioration of the delicate sequoia ecosystem. These large resource threats and issues came into question and heated debates began. Giant Forest had been a major concession site, with over 400 structures, and many did not believe that visitors would be satisfied if the concessioners were removed. Studies of the negative impacts of development and visitor use on vegetation within national parks date back to the 1920s. Despite these studies, development within the parks continued. In the 1950s, there were breakthrough scientific studies done on sequoia trees finding that buildings, sewage and power lines, roads and human compaction of soil harms the big trees’ root systems. The only recommendation was to remove the paths and structures. Superintendent John Davis called a conference in 1960 to discuss this evidence and decide on the best path forward. They decided that commercial activity and concessions would be moved to Lodgepole and that Giant Forest should be allowed to recover. The question of perhaps relocating all overnight lodging in Giant Forest was again brought up but undecided. The passing of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in 1969 by Congress required the evaluation of all major federal actions and their environmental consequences mitigated. The National Park Service produced a Development Concept Plan (DCP) for Giant Forest. The DCP called for significant reductions in the development of Giant Forest. The plan called for a full removal of all overnight visitor facilities from the grove. New lodging was to be built at Clover Creek as a substitute. Implementation of the plan began in the early 1980s. The park forester and park ecologists were fundamental in the implementation of the long planned restoration of Giant Forest. Restoring this grove of giant sequoias to as near its natural state as possible involved the demolition of buildings in the area, the relocation of concession facilities, and the construction of new buildings at Clover Creek.

The series consists of broad vegetation management plans and reports, records pertaining to specific restoration projects within the park, files concerning vegetation mapping and sensitive plant projects, and a small section relating to research on Sequoia trees.