Join Save the Redwoods League in celebrating 100 years of redwoods conservation leadership that protected the world’s greatest forests. We’re giving back to our supporters with events throughout the year, including free passes to more than 40 California redwood state parks on the second Saturdays of every month in 2018. Learn more about this offer and about our past and future of protecting, restoring, and connecting people to the redwoods.
As 2017 comes to a close, it’s that time again for the “best of” lists to come out. Best movies of the year, best music, etc. So here is my own “best of” list for the past year.
Beginning January 16, 2018, visitors will need reservations to park at or ride the shuttle to Muir Woods National Monument. The new reservation system will prevent visitor overcrowding and help keep the forest green and vibrant for generations to come.
Fern Watch, an effort to monitor drought and climate change in redwood forests, has sprouted an exciting new extension. An outdoor science class for homeschoolers, led by Elaine Esteban, began their own fern-monitoring project in British Columbia.
California condors have been absent from the Pacific Northwest for over a century. But the Yurok tribe — whose ancestors lived along the Klamath River in Northern California — still revere and celebrate them. The sight of a condor flying over the redwoods has been erased from living memory, and, as tribe chairman Thomas P. O’Rourke told Audubon last March, “His absence is a hole in our hearts.”
In 2015, Congress voted to reinstate the IRA Charitable Rollover and it is now a permanent part of the tax code! This legislation allows you to make tax-free charitable gifts from your IRA without claiming any increased income. And, your gift may count towards your minimum distribution requirement.
On Sunday, October 22, the League hosted its 2017 Annual Thank You Event, where Redwood Leadership Circle and Redwood Legacy Circle members took a ride through the redwoods of Mendocino County on the beautiful and historic Skunk Train.
Thanks to a collaboration with Parks Project, you can now wear your support for California’s iconic redwood parks! In partnership with Save the Redwoods League, they’re releasing a t-shirt to benefit the League’s Park Support Fund that you can buy online.
As the Chief of the California State Parks Partnership Office, Christina Jaromay’s primary challenge is figuring out connections: how to make new ones and strengthen old ones. The long-standing partnership between Save the Redwoods League and California State Parks is one such relationship Jaromay oversees.
Redwood National Park, Muir Woods National Monument, and Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks — over the last five decades the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) helped protect them all. We need your help to tell Members of Congress to support LWCF and renew the program before it ends in September 2018.
What is home? For me, it is the redwoods. Whether you’re hiking, biking, or in my family’s case, driving, you just can’t beat the redwood forest. Not only are these trees beautiful beyond measure, but they are also a place of bonding and healing. Joaquin Miller Park and Redwood Regional Park have always been my family’s favorite places, and I will always think of them as places of comfort and sanctuary.
Robert Van Pelt, a forest ecology researcher and affiliate assistant professor at the University of Washington, specializes in big trees, and lately, he’s been focused on a secluded one-acre parcel located in the Big River Watershed, the Fritz Wonder Plot.
Life can be hectic. You have school, work, and responsibilities to take care of. Add a busy city with thousands of people and your life is even more chaotic. Find out how Muir Woods can help you slow down while keeping you immersed in the city vibe.
One of our grantees, the Humboldt County Office of Education, worked with students this year from Fortuna High School’s videography class to create “art” in the redwoods after learning about redwood ecology.
Now that the sun is setting earlier, it’s great time to experience the sights and sounds of the redwood forest after dark. Not a night owl? Celebrate fall with a birdwatching walk or a trip to an autumn festival. Here’s a sample of fall fun throughout the redwood regions.
The Orick Mill Site, a 125-acre property in the Prairie Creek Scenic Corridor, was a top priority for acquisition by the League for a long time. It’s not hard to see why: the property is nestled between the most iconic redwood groves in the world — the groves of Redwood National and State Parks. But land acquisitions — and the resulting changes in land management — are complicated affairs, especially if you happen to be a herd of Roosevelt elk.
Fire is a natural part of the environment and benefits many forests. Prescribed fires have long been used to encourage growth of beneficial and native plant species and reduce the amount of combustible vegetation that could fuel catastrophic wildfires. Thousands of prescribed fires are carried out across the country every year, and they are integral to forest restoration and stewardship.
National Public Lands Day on September 30 celebrates our nation’s cultural and natural resources that are open to everyone, but the work to defend our national monuments continues. This year, along with celebrating our public lands, unfortunately, comes trepidation, as we face the threat of eroded protections at a scale never seen before in U.S. history.
We are sequencing the coast redwood and giant sequoia genomes. While the first steps in this project will happen in the laboratory, the goal is to rapidly put this new understanding of redwood DNA to work for conservation. To support vigorous coast redwood and giant sequoia forests in the decades ahead, we will need to protect not only the remarkable structure of the forest, but also protect the genetic diversity that underlies it.
The sword fern, one of the most common redwood forest plants, has become prominent in my life over the past few years. This is mostly due to the League’s Fern Watch project, which monitors the health of sword ferns throughout the redwood range. Even though these ferns are common, little is known about their ecology and how they respond to climatic change.
