Giant Thoughts Newsletter

Legacy & Leadership: Celebrating 100 Years with our Supporters

by Sharon Rabichow on

We’re just over halfway through the year, and 2018 has already proven to be legendary for Save the Redwoods League. As you have probably heard, this year is the League’s 100th birthday, which has been a joyous cause for celebration! I am so glad that we were able to share our festivities and show our appreciation for members of the Redwood Legacy Circle, who have committed to the long-term protection of the redwoods by including the League in their estate plans.

Students from Half Moon Bay High School collect plant data as part of our Redwoods and Climate Change High School Program.

Tracking Seasonal Changes in Our Parks

by Angela Pai on

What determines when shrubs bloom? The study of seasonal life cycle events such as this is called phenology, and gathering long-term data on these cycles is the focus of the California Phenology Project (CPP). Collecting data is simple, and anyone can participate. For the past couple of months, I’ve been tracking some plants in Redwood Regional Park as part of the Redwood Phenology Project by Save the Redwoods League and the East Bay Regional Park District.

Pacific Trillium

Calling all Redwood Volunteers

by Deborah Zierten on

As a science-based conservation organization we are always looking at the latest redwood research to help guide our efforts to protect, restore, and connect people to these magnificent forests. Our citizen science projects are one way we engage the general public in our work to get a better picture of what is happening in the redwoods.

The pristine South Fork of the Tule River rushes through Red Hill Grove. Photo by Paolo Vescia.

Red Hill Purchase: A Giant Conservation Win

by Jessica Inwood on

The purchase of Red Hill is a watershed event in giant sequoia conservation, and a particularly gratifying achievement for the League and our donors, given that 2018 is our Centennial year.

Pristine unnamed creeks run through Harold Richardson Redwoods Reserve.

Hidden Gem to Become Future Redwood Park

by Sam Hodder on

Nestled in the wooded hills just a few miles inland from the Sonoma coast lies an oasis of towering old-growth coast redwoods. It is a humbling, inspiring, and spectacularly beautiful place. This pristine 730-acre forest, as large as San Francisco Bay’s Angel Island, is the Harold Richardson Redwoods Reserve.

Photo by Allendale Elementary School

Apply Now! Redwood Education Grants

by Deborah Zierten on

Education Grants Program gives $100,000 every year to various schools, non-profits, and parks throughout the redwood range to enhance redwood education programs and bring more people to our iconic forests.

The Giants of Land and Sea exhibit at the California Academy of Sciences features our beloved redwoods. Photo by Kyle Cooper

Redwoods Star in New Giants of Land & Sea Exhibit

by Emily Burns on

At the California Academy of Science’s new Giants of Land and Sea exhibit, you can explore the forest canopy virtually through an immersive video experience, walk through a fog room to feel how this fixture of coastal climate bathes the redwoods during the summer, and learn about the intrinsic connection between the forest and Pacific Ocean.

Visitors in the 1920s stand among colossal giant sequoia in what is now Calaveras Big Trees State Park. Photographer unknown, circa 1920s, Save the Redwoods League photograph collection, BANC PIC 2006.030. The Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley.

Celebrating 112 Years of the Antiquities Act

by Shelana deSilva on

On June 8, 1906, exactly 112 years ago today, the 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, signed the Antiquities Act into law. It was this act that allowed the protection of places such as Muir Woods National Monument.

Inaugural Reading the Redwoods contest is in the books

by T. A. Barron on

Across 34 states, 880 children participated in the inaugural Reading the Redwoods contest, the first of its kind to encourage reading about these iconic national treasures. The free online contest ran for eight weeks and helped to foster a love for nature, forests, and especially redwoods.

Election Results: #YesOn68 Means Clean Water and Safe Parks for All!

by Save the Redwoods League on

With Prop 68 passed, Save the Redwoods League will be able to improve existing redwood parks and reserves, making them more accessible and more resilient to a changing climate. We will also be able to protect the redwood forest footprint from the threats of conversion, development, and wildfire.

Explore Coast Redwoods eguide

Your New, Free Eguide to the Coast Redwoods, Just in Time for Summer

by Save the Redwoods League on

No matter what you like to do outside, an unforgettable experience awaits you, your friends and family in California’s redwood parks. Nothing compares to standing in the cathedral-like groves, next to trees whose beauty and size is almost beyond belief, witnessing golden light filtering through the canopies, and seeing fairy-tale blankets of redwood sorrel and trillium on the forest floor. Our new, free Explore Coast Redwoods eguide can help make these experiences yours.

Vote "Yes" on Prop 68. Photo by Paolo Vescia

Vote #YesOn68 and Tell a Friend

by Shelana deSilva on

Save the Redwoods League supports Proposition 68, the Clean Water and Safe Parks Act, because this measure will provide the investments we need to help keep California’s redwoods resilient and accessible to everyone. Help spread the word and vote #YesOn68!

This spectacular tree is among Red Hill Grove’s 110 ancient giant sequoia. Photo by Paolo Vescia

The Countdown is On to Save Red Hill

by Tim Whalen on

The League has negotiated a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to purchase and protect the pristine 160-acre Red Hill property – one of the last ancient giant sequoia forests still in private ownership. However, we must complete this deal by June 25!

Photo by Paul Jarvis, courtesy of American Hiking Society

2,802 Miles of Trail to be Improved on National Trails Day®

by American Hiking Society on

On June 2, people across the country will come together to improve 2,802 miles of trail collectively—the distance across the U.S.—during American Hiking Society’s National Trails Day®. You can join the nationwide efforts by pledging to improve a trail.

Felicia Marcus. Photo credit: California Water Resources Control Board

Felicia Marcus Promotes Protecting the Forest to Save Water

by Glen Martin on

California’s Water Resources Control Board has a broad purview, overseeing water rights, regulating groundwater, and maintaining and enforcing standards for drinking water. And that’s just what they do as a critical partner with Save the Redwoods League in forest lands management and watershed restoration efforts.

New Protections for the Mysterious Marbled Murrelet

by Madeleine Turner on

In February, Oregon’s Fish and Wildlife Commission voted to reclassify the marbled murrelet from threatened to endangered. The vote is good news, considering that murrelets have lost an estimated 78,600 acres of nesting habitat in Oregon since 1993. By some models cited by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, the species risks an 80 percent chance of extinction by 2060 in certain parts of the state.

2018 is the Year of the Redwoods. Photo by Jon Parmentier

Celebrate the Year of the Redwoods with Us

by Shelana deSilva on

The state Senate declared 2018 the Year of the Redwoods in honor of California’s state trees and in recognition of the League’s 100th anniversary.

Photo by Bob Hare

100 Years…100 New Supporters

by Tim Whalen on

2018 marks a century of our work to protect and restore coast redwoods and giant sequoia. To celebrate a century of this important work, one of our board members, Peggy Light, has offered to give $100 for each of the first 100 Evergreen members. Give just $10 per month today!

Arboreal Lessons

by Anthony D. Fredericks on

Award-winning children’s author Anthony D. Fredericks explains how a journey to Redwood National and State Parks inspired his book Tall Tall Tree and his commitment to #Stand4Redwoods because of the lessons redwoods offer kids. You can enter to win a copy of Tall Tall Tree and other fantastic prizes by entering our Reading the Redwoods contest by May 10, 2018. Reading the Redwoods is a free, online contest for kids in grades K-5, hosted in celebration of the Centennial of Save the Redwoods League.