[6] Due to its proximity to the Pacific Ocean, the forest is regularly shrouded in a coastal marine layer fog, contributing to a wet environment that encourages vigorous plant growth.

Today, the Sequoia sempervirens can be found only in a narrow, cool coastal belt from Monterey County, California, in the south to Oregon in the north.

Before the logging industry came to California, there were an estimated 2 million acres (8,000 km2) of old growth forest containing redwoods growing in a narrow strip along the coast.

Just north of the San Francisco Bay, one valley named Redwood Canyon remained uncut, mainly due to its relative inaccessibility.

When Kent objected to the plan, the water company threatened to use eminent domain and took him to court to attempt to force the project to move ahead.

Kent sidestepped the water company's plot by donating 295 acres (119 ha) of the redwood forest to the federal government, thus bypassing the local courts.

Once declared a national monument, Muir Woods was immediately protected and placed under the care of the United States Government.

[15] During the winter of 2002–03, many storms brought high winds to Muir Woods causing the tree to lean so much that a fissure developed in January 2003.

On May 19, the delegates held a commemorative ceremony in tribute to his memory in Muir Woods' Cathedral Grove, where a dedication plaque was placed in his honor.

The spawning migrations begin after heavy late fall or winter rains breach the sandbar at Muir Beach allowing the fish to move upstream (usually in December and January).

Evidence points to exhaustion of smolt oversummering in the creek due to a loss of large woody debris and deep pools where young salmon can rest.

Starting in 2009, the National Park Service began restoring Muir Beach to create a functional, self-sustaining ecosystem and improve visitor access.

But, as of January 2010, and for the first time in three years, an estimated 45 coho swam up Redwood Creek to spawn, creating 23 redds or clusters of eggs.

The tannin in the trees repels the insects and the volume of flowers and fruits produced by plants below the canopy is limited by the shade of the redwoods.

[citation needed] The monument is home to a variety of mammals ranging in size from the small, four-inch long American shrew mole to the much larger black-tailed subspecies of mule deer, Odocoileus hemionus columbianus.

[26] The majority of the monument's mammals are either nocturnal or are burrowing animals that live underground or in the forest floor's dense plant litter.

[citation needed] In November 2010 sea otters (Enhydra lutris) have been spotted swimming in the new stream channel constructed in the lagoon area of Redwood Creek.

[30] Residents of neighboring Mill Valley had protested against earlier plans to set up an additional parking lot, and together with a group named "Mount Tam Task Force" sued to prevent the building of a shuttle bus station.

Marin Transit operates a shuttle on all weekends and holidays and during select peak weekdays, providing service to Muir Woods from Sausalito, Marin City, or Mill Valley (Route 66); the National Park Service recommends that visitors use the shuttle when it is operating to avoid difficulties in finding parking.

The annual Dipsea Race, a footrace which goes between Mill Valley and Stinson Beach, passes through Muir Woods on the second Sunday in June.

The protections given to these areas by the federal government helped to  establish them as natural tourist destinations creating an attraction that brought positive externalities in the form of increased business to the surrounding communities.

According to the National Park Service, the spending and cash flow brought to the area through these visitors created 12,658 new local jobs and had a net benefit of $1.6 billion in additional revenue.

[35] A peer-reviewed visitor spending analysis was conducted by economists Catherine Thomas and Egan Cornachione of the U.S. Geological Survey and Lynne Koontz of the National Park Service.

[36] The popularity of Muir Woods as a tourist destination has created a great deal of congestion and delay on the two lane California State Highway 1.

As a result, the park is involved in restoration and conservation efforts in Redwood Creek at the Banducci Flower Farm site, which is managed by the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and at Big Lagoon, which is outside the monument at Muir Beach, to improve ecosystem health and salmonid habitat.

Before restoration efforts, the Redwood Creek mouth functioned poorly in conveying water and sediment from a nine square mile watershed to the ocean.

The efforts to restore Redwood Creek illustrate a way in which the government protection of Muir Woods leads to positive benefits for the surrounding area.

Characters played by James Stewart and Kim Novak visit the Muir Woods National Monument in Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 film Vertigo; however, the scene was actually shot in Big Basin Redwoods State Park.

It appears in the Big Hero 6: The Series, set in an alternate history that San Francisco was under much Japanese influence after the 1906 earthquake, as "Muirahara Woods" in the eponymous episode.