conservation

Secret Life of Ferns

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Ferns are under-appreciated, despite the fact that as a group they have more than 12,000 species worldwide and their lineage is even older than the redwoods! Maybe I’m a fern nerd (well, no maybe about it actually), but I can’t …

Peters Creek Old-Growth Forest. Photo by Paolo Vescia

Obama’s Budget Calls for More Conservation Funding

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There was a bit of good conservation news coming from Washington, DC, last week. President Obama’s budget includes a substantial increase for Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) funding. The LWCF program has had a huge impact on land conservation …

We're trying a variety of restoration techniques at Mill Creek.

Sustainability or Resilience?

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Do you feel tension?  No, not emotional tension, the intellectual kind.  Does intellectual tension invigorate you?  It invigorates us at Save the Redwoods League.  There is a debate among conservationists:  should our goal be sustainability or resilience? At Save the …

Giant in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park.

Redwoods and the Passage of Time

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Time.  Einstein said, “Time is an illusion.” We all feel that it goes by too fast. Dr. Seuss said, “How did it get so late so soon?” To make a difference, we have to focus on now.  As Mother Teresa said, …

Montgomery Woods State Park. Photo by Peter Buranzon

Redwoods and the Economy

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Why does the League work tirelessly to save the redwoods? “They are beautiful, peaceful, humbling, inspiring…” according to a recent visitor. Yet there is another important, practical reason: it benefits the economy. Our public lands contribute to the nation’s economic …

Another Side of Cemex

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This week I explored Cemex Redwoods in the Santa Cruz Mountains with my colleagues.  I’d been there many times, but this time felt different because I walked into corners of the expansive property that I hadn’t seen before. During my …

The League will own, steward and manage Shady Dell for the foreseeable future until we can transfer it to a permanent steward.

The Tasks Ahead

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“To some it might appear that, having accomplished what will be considered one of the greatest pieces of conservation work in America, the Redwoods League might not have a place of as great importance in the future as that occupied …

You helped us protect the Noyo River Redwoods. Photo by Julie Martin

The Fight to Save the Redwoods: Then and Now

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Since 1918, Save the Redwoods League has been fighting to fund redwoods protection all the while the funding for land conservation in California has continued to change. More recently, between 2002 and 2006, the voters of California approved bond measures to …

Peters Creek Old-Growth Forest. Photo by Paolo Vescia

4 Ways to See the Redwood Forest Anew

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This weekend, I visited a corner of paradise in Portola Redwoods State Park.  This park is the home of some of the tallest, most majestic redwoods in the Santa Cruz Mountains.  Now is the perfect time to see a veil …

(c) 2012 National Geographic

Large Old Trees at Risk

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Open up the 2012/12 issue of National Geographic to see photos of an incredible giant sequoia and the phenomenal diversity of plants and animals that live with this redwood in the forest. On the backside of the fold-out photograph of …

Giant sequoia in Wasserburg, Germany

Redwood Stories

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We regularly receive stories about the redwoods from League members and supporters.  Recently we received one from a member who joined the League in 1947.  The story made me wonder if humans are sowing the seeds of a much broader …

Enjoying Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park.

Hartley Leaves Legacy of Accomplishments for Redwood Forests

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Ruskin Hartley’s most recent and final blog for Save the Redwoods League was titled “Bracing for Rain” and anticipated the Bay Area’s first wet weather of the season.  Ruskin’s resignation from his position as the League’s Executive Director led me …

Hiking in the Wasatch Range east of Salt Lake City.

The Future of the Forest: Why Saving Land is Just the Beginning

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Hiking in the Wasatch (Mountain) Range east of Salt Lake City, the Aspens are golden and shimmering, doing their quaking thing in the autumn sun. I am with land conservation colleagues, taking an afternoon off from the seminars at the …

RCCI scientist, Stephen C. Sillett, on a branch. Photo by Marie Antoine

A Strong Foundation for Redwoods and Climate Change

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I am delighted to announce that the League has received a grant from the San Francisco Foundation to support our Redwoods and Climate Change Initiative (RCCI)! The $100,000, 2-year grant comes from the Foundation’s Evelyn Tilden Mohrhardt Fund, which was …

Alerce. Photo by andrea ugarte, Flickr Creative Commons

80 Degrees of Separation

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If you leave Redwood National Park and journey 80 degrees south you will arrive at the coastal town of Valdivia, Chile.  These two areas—equidistant from the equator, north and south—are about to be united through a sister park relationship that …

Majestic coast redwood tree.

Calling on the Wisdom of a Redwood Tree

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The bark on our redwood tree was especially soft this morning.  The ground was squishy beneath my feet.  It was drippy as I stood underneath the tree in the morning fog, and newly fallen redwood leaves littered the ground. I …

Photo by  William K. Matthias

Land Use and Forest Conservation

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Dr. Sarah Marvin, professor of Geography at the University of Oregon, has set out to understand how the shape of the land and its use by owners reflect the probability of a privately owned coast redwood forest being protected. The two questions she has asked are: “Are privately owned forests more likely to be protected if they are on bigger parcels?” and “Do traditional, rural land uses as opposed to traditional, residential land uses promote forest preservation?” Answers to these questions might help predict the likelihood of future, private redwood forest protection and—of logged forests—regeneration. Learn more about this research.