This tree is only found in the lower canopy of old-growth forests.  It takes numerous years to establish itself as a seedling.  It requires a shady environment and grows incredibly slow.  Its wood is harder than any other tree in the forest.  Historically, the hard and durable wood of the Yew tree was a primary resource for coastal Native American tribes.  Tribes used the wood to make tools, boxes, drum frames, bark scrapers, combs and many other useful tools.  Currently, a chemical called taxol is extracted from the bark of the Yew tree and is used by Doctors as an anti-cancer agent.  It has proven to suppress tumor growth in ovarian, breast, and kidney cancers.  However, Yew trees are incredibly slow growing and are endangered by overharvesting for the taxol.  To avoid the over-consumption of Yew trees, chemists are synthetically creating taxol in the laboratory. The berries of the yew tree are poisonous to humans, but an important food source for birds.