Dana Viloria joined Save the Redwoods League in 2019 as Writer/Storyteller and Editor. In addition to amplifying people’s stories in nature, she loves building community in the outdoors.
I’m always amazed each time I bear witness to California’s natural landscapes, and this time, on the 300 or so miles driving from San Francisco to the ancient forests of the North Coast, I’m smitten again.
Experience the Cascade Creek property through photos as the League advances the effort to protect this jewel of a landscape connecting the Santa Cruz Mountains to the Pacific Ocean.
In Honor of Women’s History Month, here’s a roundup of stories that highlight just a few of the ways women have contributed to redwoods conservation, then and now.
A new film in a series called Everyone Outside features the work of Save the Redwoods League in its new era to create more welcoming and equitable park experiences that honor the diversity of Californians.
When the snow falls, the ancient forests of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks ascend to another level of otherworldly. With the forest floor blanketed in fresh powder and the giant sequoia’s evergreen leaves frosted, the trees’ massive trunks glow a vibrant orange against a sea of white. Winter is the time to enjoy the giants while snowshoeing, skiing, and sledding.
Half of the 48,000 glorious acres of giant sequoia forests in California, including Giant Sequoia National Monument, are owned by the US Forest Service. Despite the groves’ significance, these magnificent places have limited recreational, educational, and interpretive infrastructure to support their hundreds of thousands of annual visitors.
Capturing the grandeur of our coast redwood and giant sequoia forests is no easy task. Many of the League’s most epic shots are courtesy of Max Forster, who, by our standards, is the ultimate redwoods enthusiast. Forster has been shooting nature photography for 10 years. His favorite subject: the coast redwood.
Since the 1940 opening of Redwood Regional Park, there have been efforts to commemorate Dr. Reinhardt’s association with this haven of coast redwoods, which once blanketed the Oakland Hills prior to the logging era.
In the far reaches of the North Coast of California, young redwoods await their moment to become ancient giants. Save the Redwoods League has been dedicated to protecting land in what is now Redwood National and State Parks since the early 1920s. We’ve protected and transferred to the parks more than 140 properties, encompassing more than 55,000 acres.
We tapped Victoria Reeder’s expertise to learn a few simple tricks, from the basics of iPhone shooting to tinkering with camera lenses. Ready to get your best redwood shots ever? Here are some pro tips.
Snapshots from Alder Creek, the largest unprotected giant sequoia grove on Earth. Photos by Max Forster.
No Labor Day Weekend plans yet? We’ve got an idea: get out and Explore Redwoods. Now that summer’s coming to a close, a beach day might also be in order. Luckily, there are a few places not too far from the San Francisco Bay Area where you can do both. From the redwood forest to Pacific waters, here are four ways to fit in a beach day near the world’s tallest trees before summer’s over.
We have amazing access to redwoods in some of the most beautiful parks on Earth. That’s worth protecting, and the best way to do it is to be mindful visitors. Here’s what you can do to be a good steward while exploring the redwood forest.
Just a few more weekends this summer to get out and enjoy California’s great redwood forests. And planning your adventure in the redwoods has never been easier, thanks to Explore Redwoods, our new and improved online portal that tells you everything you need to know to enjoy more than 100 parks.
From forests to creeks to trails, every natural space has a past that predates our conventional history books. Few people today realize that the hills of the East Bay were once home to coast redwood forests of incredible stature. Living among them were the Ohlone people.
Oh, the stories of a redwood forest — millions of years’ worth. In honor of the Save the Redwoods League centennial in 2018, the organization published a book that tells some of these epic tales. The Once and Future Forest: California’s Iconic Redwoods is a robust collection of essays that illuminates everything from indigenous peoples’ connections with redwood forests to scientific research and natural history.
Read two book reviews from the League’s REDWOODS magazine: Song of Six Rivers, a poem by author Zev Levinson, and Stretch to the Sun by Carrie A. Pearson.
Today’s youths are destined to be tomorrow’s climate champions. That’s why it’s so critical to empower them to learn about climate change from all angles — including from inside a redwood forest. Through the League’s Redwoods and Climate Change High School Program, students gain crucial environmental literacy.
In the hills of Oakland, California, a lush forest of young redwoods rises among the footprints of ancient giants that were logged in the mid-1800s to build area cities. The 82- acre Roberts Regional Recreation Area offers easy access to the 150-foot-tall redwoods just steps from the parking lot.
The Giants of Land and Sea exhibit at the California Academy of Sciences gives an interactive look at one of nature’s most perfect manifestations of ecological balance: In Northern California, an ancient redwood forest cloaks the rocky coastline, drawing life force from the Pacific Ocean to sustain an otherworldly place.
