It was long considered by foresters and government agencies to be a weed tree. In its earlier years, its only use to settlers was to feed the boilers of donkey engines bringing in the valuable pine and fir logs. There was a period in the mid 1960s when U.S. Forest Service policy in California's National Forests was systematic extermination of California black oak by girdling the trees. The objective was to make room for more coniferous growth. In the rush to utilize the pines, firs and redwoods, the dense hardwoods were looked on with contempt. Like a few other visionaries in the 1960s, Guy Hall thought the California black oak presented a beautiful challenge that deserved better than eradication. In 1965 Hall convinced federal agencies to cease their extermination policies.