Giant Thoughts Newsletter Issues

Pacific fisher

Spotted: The Elusive Pacific Fisher at Red Hill

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These nocturnal critters are mid-sized carnivores in the weasel family. Females have home ranges up to 10 square miles, and males have even larger home ranges since they mate with multiple females.

California red-legged frog

New Study Shows Habitat Corridors Increase Biodiversity

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Imagine this: There’s an amazing neighborhood farmers’ market that’s a safe and easy walk from your house. You shop for fresh local produce there every week, until one day, the market is relocated to a spot that’s just out of reasonable walking distance. To top it off, there’s now a six-lane freeway that you’d have to cross to get to it. Your habitat has just been fragmented.

Mountain lion

Redwoods Rising apprentice shares tale of mountain lion encounter

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As I was heading toward the gap in the logs, I noticed that the one to my right had a large dark area under it. I didn’t think it was anything because most of the time it’s either charred or shaded making it look darker than it really is.

Redwoods Rising Apprentices 2019

Redwoods Rising Apprentices Team Building

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Earlier this season, Redwoods Rising apprentices toured the Greater Miller Creek Project Area to get a sense of the work they would be doing later in the summer. They also did a team building activity, where they established a circle in the grass, and then had to retrieve a piece of redwood branch that they placed outside of the circle without touching the ground. The larger lesson was that growth requires teamwork. All in all a fun day.

Sequoia National Park. Photo by Anthony Ambrose

Startling Report Highlights Issue of Air Pollution Among National Parks

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According to a recent report from the National Parks Conservation Service, that last part of the equation is problematic at several national parks, including Sequoia, Kings Canyon and Yosemite National Parks. Startlingly, the report names Sequoia and Kings Canyon as among the parks with the worst air pollution in the country, meaning that the parks “had unhealthy air for most park visitors and rangers to breathe for more than two months of the year, mostly in the summer months.”

2019 Redwoods Rising Apprentices.

Students from Humboldt State to Help Restore Redwood National and State Parks

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Eighteen students from Humboldt State University (HSU) are participating in a collaborative restoration project known as Redwoods Rising, gaining valuable knowledge and work experience studying the historically logged coast redwood forests in Redwood National and State Parks this summer.

Photo by Alisha Laborico, courtesy Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District.

New Redwoods Park Opens Near Los Gatos

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Following a ribbon-cutting ceremony last month, San Francisco Bay Area residents now can enjoy a spectacular redwood park near Los Gatos. The 1,432-acre Bear Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve features an easy-access interpretive trail around Upper Lake and 6 miles of hiking and equestrian trails.

RNP

Now is the Time for Permanent Funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund

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The Land and Water Conservation Fund, was permanently reauthorized earlier this year. On the heels of that historic victory, the conservation community is now calling on Congress to pass legislation for permanent, dedicated funding to protect wildlands and open space and make parks accessible.

Which Redwood Forest Animal Are You?

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Take our redwood animal personality quiz and see which member of the redwood forest resembles your personality best.

Save the Redwoods League and California State Parks, PORTS Giant Sequoia program

The Power of Partnerships and Global Outreach

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Park Interpretive Specialist Jenny Comperda reports on the nearly 10,000 students who experienced the giant sequoia forest through virtual field trips at Calaveras Big Trees in 2018-19.

The Once and Future Forest: California's Iconic Redwoods limited edition book.

A Redwood’s-Eye View of Essays on Our Iconic Forests

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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.

Student observes the sword fern leaves

Students Find Connections with Nature

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This spring, hundreds of high school students from around the San Francisco Bay Area and Humboldt County explored coast redwood forests as scientists through the Redwood Education Programs offered by Save the Redwoods League. Students ventured out of the classroom and into the forest to connect to the natural world and learn about climate change and scientific field techniques.

Redwoods Magazine Spring 2019

Check out the New, Special Edition of Redwoods Magazine

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You’re invited to read our Climate Change Edition of Redwoods magazine that’s online now. What does the latest research reveal about how redwoods are faring as the climate changes? How can today’s youths become tomorrow’s climate champions? Where can I find ways to play in urban redwoods oases?

Stephen Sillett ventures into the redwood canopy

Discovering the Climate Change Resilience of Coast Redwood Forests

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After a decade studying the impacts of climate change throughout redwood forests, Emily Burns, PhD, and Stephen Sillett, PhD, share new insight into how coast redwood trees are growing today. See the remarkable new findings about second-growth forests.

Wilderness Arts and Literacy Collaborative

Apply Now: Education Grants Available

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Save the Redwoods League is accepting applications for our Education Grants Program for the 2019-2020 school year. A single school field trip or outdoor family experience can have a lasting impact on youth at any age. That is why the League makes it a priority to connect youth to the redwoods, so they can experience and study these awe-inspiring forests.

Saturday, June 1, is American Hiking Society’s National Trails Day®.

Trail Service World Record to be Set on National Trails Day®

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On June 1, 2019, individuals across the country will set the world record for the most people improving trails in a single day during the 27th annual American Hiking Society’s National Trails Day®.

Fog provides coast redwoods with much of the moisture they need

Can Redwoods Survive a Hotter Planet?

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Redwoods magazine debuts Community Voices, in which guest writers share their perspectives on redwood forests. Mark Hertsgaard, environment correspondent for The Nation magazine, says if we humans do our part, we and redwoods can continue to flourish.