IN BRIEF

Creating a fire-ready future for redwoods

The League’s Wildfire Fund will support recovery and resilience projects

Suzanne Moss on Alder Creek after a wildfire
League Campaign Director Suzanne Moss visits our Alder Creek property, where a 2020 wildfire killed dozens of ancient giant sequoia. Our new Wildfire Fund will support restoration work on the property and studies of the blaze to prepare our forests for today’s more severe fires. Photo by Kyle Cooper, Save the Redwoods League.

Although the losses of last year’s fire season were unprecedented, they were also the latest in a series of high-fire years fueled by misguided forest management, climate change, and drought. And it is now clear that coast redwood and giant sequoia forests—and the parks within them—aren’t prepared for this new reality.

Save the Redwoods League is stepping up to help redwood forests meet these new challenges. Our new Wildfire Fund will help prepare redwood forests for the coming fire season and enable us to lay the groundwork for the fire-ready forests of the future.

Among the League’s highest priorities is helping one of California’s most iconic redwood parks, Big Basin Redwoods State Park, get back on its feet following extensive damage to its historical park infrastructure.

The League also will conduct fire recovery operations at its coast redwood and giant sequoia properties that experienced severe fire. At the recently purchased Cascade Creek property in the Santa Cruz Mountains, we are beginning to repair roads, culverts, and trails damaged by fire. At Alder Creek, where dozens of ancient giant sequoia were killed by fire, we will research how fire took advantage of the dense undergrowth as we restore the property to its more natural state.

We are also launching research projects in the coast redwood and giant sequoia ranges to help us understand how forest conditions contribute to fire severity and which management strategies will best result in healthy, resilient forests.

Lastly, if we want to ensure that coast redwood and giant sequoia forests are prepared for a future with wildfires, it is vital that we work with state and federal policymakers to identify sufficient resources for proper forest management and policies.

About the author

Since 1918, Save the Redwoods League has protected and restored redwood forests and connected people with their peace and beauty so these wonders of the natural world flourish.

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