The Eighth Wonders

One year after a wildfire, burnt redwoods regrow foliage. Photo by Benjamin S. Ramage

Re-Sprouting After Fire

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Last weekend, while I was hiking in the forests of Northern California with strong winds and thunder and lightning storms, I was reminded that we are entering fire season. While the thought of forest fires often stir fear in us …

Will the Redwoods Be Victims of the Sixth Extinction?

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Sixty-five million years ago, many of Earth’s inhabitants — including the dinosaurs — were wiped out when a meteor struck the Yucatan Peninsula. This was the fifth mass extinction in our planet’s history. Now, scientists have reached a broad consensus …

Video: Oakland High School Students in the Redwoods

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Save the Redwoods League launched its Redwoods and Climate Change high school program in 2014. The program brings urban youths to the redwoods in order to connect them to their local redwood park and use the redwoods as an avenue …

What We’re Learning from the Redwoods

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When we take a close look at what makes redwoods survive and thrive, the trees have remarkable stories to tell. That’s what researchers discovered thanks to three studies supported by research grants from Save the Redwoods League over the past …

Snow plant. Photo by Isolino, Flickr Creative Commons

Sequoias and Snow Plants

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If you have read my recent blog posts, you can see a plant identification-theme forming. I promise it won’t be forever but today I have one more to throw at you. This time I will take you to the giant …

Fog is Back

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The fog is back. After thinking mostly of drought for the last few years, suddenly my focus is back to fog. It’s the ephemeral and unpredictable force of nature that I spent nearly a decade studying among the redwoods. The …

What’s That Flower?

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After taking a plant identification class a few weeks ago, I’ve become obsessed with identifying everything I see while hiking in the redwood forest. And although I have walked through many forests, I still see plants that are new to …

The Memorial Service for President Roosevelt among the redwoods at Muir Woods on May 19, 1945. Courtesy of The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

United Nations at Muir Woods 70 Years Ago

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On May 19, 1945, more than 500 United Nations delegates came from the first U.N. peace conference in San Francisco to gather at Muir Woods National Monument. At the time of this historic event, World War II was not yet over. …

Plants and Their Families

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When you’re out with your family, have you ever heard, “You look exactly like your father,” or “You have your mother’s nose!”? Just as human family members share physical characteristics in common, plants do as well. Plant family similarities might not …

Origins of Grace Cathedral’s Redwood Altar

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Grace Cathedral stands on top of San Francisco’s iconic Nob Hill. A large redwood altar has been a prominent feature of the Cathedral since 1964, inspiring many to wonder about the altar’s origin and the history of its wood. Grace …

Photo by Scott Catron

Smallest Kids, Tallest Trees

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A highlight of my job is visiting the many education programs that we support through our redwood education grants. This year we supported 24 parks, schools and non-profits so they could bring over 6,000 students to our beautiful redwood forests. …

Spring Inspires Red-Bellied Newt Romance

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If you’ve ever visited Montgomery Woods State Natural Reserve, you may have stumbled across one of the three species of newt that occur there. Although it is tempting to keep your eyes upturned to take in the majesty of the …

Robin eggs.

Colorful Eggs Found in the Wild

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As we go into the Easter weekend, kids are hand painting and dying eggs all colors of the rainbow in preparation for the hunt on Sunday. This tradition is not only a fun art project but can become an educational …

Warming Redwood Weather

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Wendy Baxter and Anthony Ambrose from Todd Dawson’s Laboratory at U.C. Berkeley have been tracking weather in the League’s Redwoods and Climate Change Initiative research plots in the coast redwood and giant sequoias forests. Check out their latest weather report …

A marbled murrlet tends to its treetop nest. Photo by Tom Hamer.

Victory for Marbled Murrelets and Ancient Redwoods

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Legal protection of the threatened marbled murrelet seabird was upheld this week by a federal appeals court. Despite a 15-year legal battle led by the timber industry to end the Endangered Species Act listing, marbled murrelets retain their threatened status …

This drawing shows how the upgraded Mariposa Grove trails will protect sensitive giant sequoia habitat while still giving visitors the amazing views of the forest. Image courtesy of the Yosemite Conservancy.

Restoring Mariposa Grove

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The towering giant sequoias of Yosemite National Park are the iconic trees that catalyzed our Nation’s conservation movement, inspiring Congress in 1864 to designate both the Mariposa Grove and Yosemite Valley “for public use, resort, and recreation”. Today, these mammoth …

Sniffing for Science

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Scientists certainly come in all shapes and sizes, but did you know sometimes they have four paws?! Recently, the League partnered with Tim Beam (Humboldt State University), Scott Osborn (California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife), and Working Dogs for Conservation …

Our Turn to Help Elk

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This week, we walked onto our Orick Mill property and were greeted by a large herd of Roosevelt elk. The League purchased this 125-acre property in the heart of the Prairie Creek Corridor a few years ago and are actively …

Ferns Flush First after Fire

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On October 14th last year, a wildfire burned four acres of coast redwood forest at Roy’s Redwoods Preserve in Western Marin. Despite this fire blazing after many cumulative months of dry weather, fire fighters quickly contained the burn and only …

Big River-Mendocino Old-Growth Redwoods. Photo by Mike Shoys

Opposites Attract: Saving Giant Redwoods and a Pygmy Forest

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Thanks to your support, we were recently able to purchase and permanently protect Big River-Mendocino Old-Growth Redwoods! Having been in the business of protecting redwoods for nearly a century, you’d think the League would have been involved in every kind of …