Building Wildfire Resilience
Climate change and related severe wildfires in the coast redwood and giant sequoia forests are significant problems that call for a number of solutions. In California, we must do our part to protect and restore the resilience of our iconic coast redwood and giant sequoia forests, which store more carbon per acre than any other forest types in the world. While both species are naturally fire resistant, they face unprecedented threats in this era of climate change as fire seasons get hotter and longer with every passing year.
More than 4.2 million acres burned in California in 2020. In the giant sequoia range, 10% to 15% of all large, ancient giant sequoia perished in the fires—and still more were lost in 2021. Save the Redwoods League is acting now to bolster the health of the forests as they inevitably face more frequent and intense wildfires.
The League is planning prescribed burns and other treatments on our held properties such as Red Hill and on lands where we hold conservation easements to reduce unnatural fuel levels that are making fires more destructive. We also are conducting post-fire research in both ranges to quantify the impacts of our stewardship and inform our conservation planning to ensure the forests fire and climate resilience. And we are working closely with our partners to rebuild our beloved parks—such as Big Basin Redwoods State Park—that have been impacted by fires.
