indigenous people

Overhead view of a few firefighters watching smoldering burn piles in green scrub in the shadow of tall trees.

Banned for 100 years, cultural burns could save sequoias 

by Kristina Malsberger on

On a cloudless day in California’s Sierra Nevada, the Tule River Indian, North Fork Mono, and Tübatulabal Tribes gathered to lead a small cultural burning demonstration in the Alder Creek Grove. Since the California ban was lifted in 2022, only two off-reservation cultural burns have taken place in the giant sequoia range: The demonstration at Alder Creek Grove and an earlier burn led by the Tule River Indian Tribe on Forest Service land.

A large brown sign reads "Sue-meg State Park" in yellow letters with a small "campground full" sign above

The power of reclaiming Indigenous place names

by Michele Bigley on

In a deep voice, Yurok Tribal chairman Joseph James began a traditional song. ‘O Rew, the Yurok name for the surrounding land, was about to make history. That day, Save the Redwoods League, Redwood National and State Parks, and the …

A creek pooled with a fallen trunk in a redwood forest

Protecting Tc’ih-Léh-Dûñ

by InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council on

To ensure lasting protection and ongoing stewardship, the League donated and transferred the forest to the Sinkyone Council, and the Council granted the League a conservation easement. Through this partnership, the Sinkyone Council returns Indigenous presence to a land from which Sinkyone people were forcibly removed generations ago.

Yurok Tribe members fishing with netting by a river.

Revitalizing a River Through the Redwoods

by Juliet Grable on

The Klamath is the second largest river in California, flowing 257 miles through Oregon and Northern California and emptying into the Pacific Ocean. There, it bisects the Yurok Reservation and Redwood National and State Parks, a World Heritage site that …

Photo by Jack Dykinga

Indigenous Perspectives Are Crucial for Conservation

by Hawk Rosales on

After many years protecting Tribal lands and waters, and a lifetime in close relation with nature, why isn’t it easier for me to convey these concepts and perceptions? A deep tension persists between the things my heart knows and the fluency required for sharing them.

View of a redwood forest canopy from the forest floor

We Stand Together Against Racism

by Save the Redwoods League on

Black Lives Matter. We at Save the Redwoods League are deeply disturbed by historical and recent racial violence against Black Americans. We understand that there is a very real connection between the history of racism and exclusion in the conservation movement and the racism and injustice that persists in people’s everyday lives today. As members of a larger conservation movement, we at the League commit to being better allies to Black and other marginalized communities by not only standing in solidarity at this moment, but also by elevating their perspectives, needs, and interests in our work.

Fires and humans shape redwood forests.

Impact of Humans on Forest Spans Thousands of Years

by Emily Burns on

Imagine being the first person to set foot inside the redwood forest. I can picture this visitor pushing through lush ferns as they gazed up at the towering trees. This brave explorer would have no trails to follow as they …