Autumn-Winter 2017

A Latina woman who is a student leader for Latino Outdoors holding a pinecone and smiling

New Voices Reveal the Forest

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Molina is a Latino Outdoors outings leader, and with warmth and enthusiasm, she introduces video viewers to the forest’s history and wonders in her favorite park, which she always visits whenever she needs to feel grounded. Molina’s tour is among three Explore the Redwoods videos produced by Latino Outdoors and Save the Redwoods League to offer virtual trips to the coast redwoods and giant sequoia. The joint project advances the League’s mission to connect people of all backgrounds and identities to redwood forests.

Candace Walker. Photo by Paolo Vescia

Community: Share Why You Stand for the Redwoods

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Save the Redwoods League is turning 100 years old in 2018! We invite you to share why you stand for the redwoods, as well as your dreams for the forest’s next 100 years. Your contributions could appear in upcoming issues of this magazine. Here’s what a few of our Redwood Legacy Circle members have to say on the eve of our Centennial.

Mariposa Grove's giants. Photo by Jenkinson2455, Flickr Creative Commons

Travel: Mariposa Grove to Reopen After Multiyear Restoration

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Yosemite National Park’s Mariposa Grove of Giant sequoias is expected to reopen this fall after a multiyear restoration. In addition to red giants standing higher than a 30-story building, visitors will find new, wheelchair-accessible trails and boardwalks, roads converted into hiking trails, and an interpretive display of a fallen ancient giant.

T. A. Barron. Photo by Aimee Giese

Supporter Profile: Redwoods Inspire Best-Selling Author

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T. A. Barron, a member of the Save the Redwoods League Council, is the best-selling author of over 30 novels, children’s books, and nonfiction nature books, including the Merlin Saga. He said the redwoods inspire him as an enduring symbol of conservation and are a recurring and central theme in his work.

By the end of 2019, a public trail will traverse the dramatic coastal terrace for almost a mile, providing visitors with a gorgeous view. An easement will grant the Kashia Band of Pomo Indians permanent access to hold ceremonies on the bluff, overlooking the creation place of their people. Photo by Mike Kahn

Wandering the Coastal Wonderland of Stewarts Point

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On the magnificent League-owned property called Stewarts Point, the spectacular Sonoma County Coast and the mighty redwood forests are iconic elements of California’s identity. And forever intertwined with these inspiring landscapes is the cultural richness of the Native American tribes that have lived for thousands of years along the coastal bluffs and forested waterways. Take a look at this treasured land.

A firefighter protects a park sign and supporting crews contain the fire within a narrow strip under an old growth canopy on the edge of the prairie.

Why is fire used to manage redwood forests?

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Fire is a natural part of the environment and benefits many forests. Prescribed fires have long been used to encourage growth of beneficial and native plant species and reduce the amount of combustible vegetation that could fuel catastrophic wildfires. Thousands of prescribed fires are carried out across the country every year, and they are integral to forest restoration and stewardship.

Emily Burns, PhD, League's former Director of Science, reaches for the captivating cream-colored needles of an albino sprout growing out of a redwood. “It lacks chlorophyll, so it’s white, and it’s caused by a mutation on that particular sprout’s DNA,” she said. Further genomic research could confirm hypotheses that albino sprouts are more than parasites. It’s clear that the deeper we go into the redwood genome, the more we’ll know. Photo by Paolo Vescia

Mapping the Redwood Genomes

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Save the Redwoods League is leading research to fully sequence the coast redwood and giant sequoia genomes — for the first time — utilizing conifer genetic sequencing techniques unavailable until now. By the end of this five-year project, the genome sequences and the screening tools developed will allow researchers to quickly assess genetic diversity in redwood forests to inform management plans that restore the health and resilience of these forests throughout their natural ranges as they face environmental stressors such as climate change.

Shown before it fell last winter, the famous giant sequoia in Calaveras Big Trees State Park was called the Pioneer Cabin Tree after private owners cut it to make it resemble a cabin. Photo by B Christopher, Alamy Stock Photo

Fallen Icons Underscore Need to Grow Giants of the Future

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Last winter’s intense wind and rain brought down giants throughout the redwood range, including the Pioneer Cabin Tree, an iconic “drive- through sequoia” in Calaveras Big Trees State Park. Seeing any of these towering giants fall is sad because we have so few left. But under the surface of the sadness lies a brighter, long-term scientific view.

Redwood forest covers the rolling landscape of Mailliard Ranch. Protecting the ranch will safeguard these precious forests, abundant plant and animal habitat, as well as clean air and water. Photo by John Birchard.

Milestones for Mailliard: League Set to Secure Most of Vast Ranch

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Thanks to our generous donors, California voters and the State of California Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB), Save the Redwoods League is set to complete the first phase of our Mailliard Ranch project, which protects three-quarters of this majestic property from development and subdivision. Protection of the ranch will secure the stability of the regional forest ecosystem.

The League worked on a 1990 settlement that banned commercial logging in what is now Giant Sequoia National Monument. William Croft, League Board of Directors Member, took this photo in 1989 as he mapped the groves’ boundaries.

Thank You for Supporting Giant Sequoia National Monument

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Save the Redwoods League thanks our community for responding to our call for public comments on what Giant Sequoia National Monument means to them. Comments from League supporters were counted among a record-breaking 2.8 million after the Trump administration ordered a review of certain national monuments.

The League’s recent transfer of the Berry Glen Trail Connection property to Redwood National Park provides a significant portion of the limited habitat used by herds of Roosevelt elks, which draw thousands of tourists and photographers each year. Photo by Paolo Vescia

Two Steps Support Crucial Wildlife Habitat in the Home of the World’s Tallest Trees

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In California’s northwestern corner lies the Prairie Creek Scenic Corridor, a patchwork of public and privately held lands surrounded by Redwood National and State Parks, home of the world’s tallest trees. The League and collaborators have been working toward a vision of protecting the corridor from development, reconnecting the parks’ ancient redwood groves, restoring prime wildlife habitat and creating an innovative visitor center.