As the League approaches its 2018 centennial, we are looking ahead to what the next 100 years of redwoods conservation will look like. Our society has changed a lot over the decades, and conservation has to grow and adapt, too. The best strategies for helping the redwoods in the years to come might look different from the ones used by the League’s founders in a bygone era.
Since about 92% of the redwood forest is second and third growth, restoration will be a key strategy. Restoring young forest so that it can become old growth once again is essential for the future of conservation.
Restoration at San Vicente Redwoods started recently with a volunteer day. Twelve volunteers from the Oracle Corporation spent the morning pulling invasive weeds among the redwoods in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The weed they attacked was clematis; a woody, climbing vine that was taking over a stream area at San Vicente. After the trek down the hill and through the redwoods, the volunteers relentlessly pulled the weed with great satisfaction. After a few hours we definitely saw progress.
This will hopefully be the first of many volunteer days on this property. Though future opportunities have not yet been defined, here at the League we see this time spent helping the forest as a different way to connect the Bay Area community to the redwoods and to give everyone the chance to participate directly in conservation efforts.
You can find out more about the San Vicente Redwoods property here. To learn about the redwoods education program that Oracle has generously supported, watch our video.
