January 4, 2023
San Francisco, Calif. (January 4, 2023) — Save the Redwoods League has transferred its 160-acre Red Hill property to the USDA Forest Service so that it may be protected and managed by the Forest Service as part of Giant Sequoia National Monument and Sequoia National Forest. Red Hill was one of the two largest remaining privately owned giant sequoia properties in the world when the League purchased it.
“We’re so grateful to the thousands of League supporters from around the world who helped us protect the last remaining privately owned giant sequoia properties in the range,” said Paul Ringgold, chief program officer for Save the Redwoods League. “The last critical piece of Red Hill Grove is now protected as public land.”
More than 98% of California’s giant sequoia groves are protected under public, tribal, or League ownership. But they’re facing an existential threat from severe wildfires, intensified by climate change and past fire suppression. Across the range, approximately 20% of all mature giant sequoias have been killed by severe wildfires since 2015. In 2021, the KNP Complex and Windy fires burned in at least 28 sequoia groves. Red Hill Grove was among those in the path of the Windy Fire.
“The giant sequoias are facing emergency conditions,” continued Ringgold. “The survival of these incredible trees depends on improved forest stewardship across the range and continued collaboration to protect the groves from severe wildfires and prepare them for the effects of climate change before it’s too late.”
Save the Redwoods League scientists surveying the forest at Red Hill after the 2021 Windy Fire. Photo by Adrianna Andreucci, Save the Redwoods League.
Save the Redwoods League and the USDA Forest Service are members of the Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition, which formed in 2021 to coordinate and catalyze the work to restore fire resilience to the giant sequoia forests.
“The severe wildfires we’ve seen in the range in the last few years have demonstrated that even these robust, giant trees are vulnerable. Cohesive and collaborative management is essential for the species’ survival across its already limited range,” said Teresa Benson, Sequoia National Forest supervisor. “We thank Save the Redwoods League and its supporters for helping to protect the Red Hill Grove, and we look forward to continuing our work with the League to steward the magnificent giant sequoias.”
The acquisition and transfer of the property will allow the Forest Service to manage Red Hill in coordination with the national monument’s general plan, which emphasizes protection of ancient giant sequoias, wildfire risk reduction, watershed protection, habitat enhancement for threatened species and recreational opportunities.
The USDA Forest Service contributed $1.4 million to Save the Redwoods League for the property using the Land and Water Conservation Fund. LWCF is a unique and important federal program that uses oil and gas lease revenues to reinvest in projects that protect natural lands and waterways and preserve historic and cultural resources across the United States.