redwoods and climate change initiative

Redwood tree rises through the canopy

Top 15 League achievements of 2023

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As we approach the end of 2023, we find ourselves contemplating yet another remarkable year at Save the Redwoods League. Our gratitude extends to our wonderful partners, members, and supporters who make possible the essential efforts of safeguarding and restoring …

CalFIRE personnel wearing yellow fire jackets managing a prescribed fire stand next to a massive giant sequoia surrounded by burning undergrowth

Helping redwoods fight climate change

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Writer John Steinbeck called redwoods “ambassadors from another time,” while W.E.B. Du Bois described them as “eternal wooden stone with tremendous grip on earth.” We search for words to describe the majesty of the coast redwood and giant sequoia forests, …

Redwoods Education Reaches Across Language Barriers

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As I prepared to teach my first Redwoods and Climate Change lesson in the classroom, I was admittedly nervous. This class was composed entirely of English language learners. As the students shuffled into the classroom, took their seats and began reading the board, it was clear they were excited about the week’s lesson.

Warming Redwood Weather

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Wendy Baxter and Anthony Ambrose from Todd Dawson’s Laboratory at U.C. Berkeley have been tracking weather in the League’s Redwoods and Climate Change Initiative research plots in the coast redwood and giant sequoias forests. Check out their latest weather report …

No matter what your age, spending time among the redwoods can be a rewarding experience. Photo by Paolo Vescia

Enjoying the Redwoods at Every Age

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Through this blog I often write about my experiences with youths in the redwoods. I love seeing the expressions on kids’ faces when they see a banana slug, find a tiny redwood cone, or see a tall redwood tree for …

Drought in the Redwoods Makes Headlines

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This week, our research partners from UC Berkeley braved the fall heatwave to check on how some old redwood forests are handling the drought in the Santa Cruz Mountains. I joined them among the redwood giants at Henry Cowell State …

Students set up fern plots and learn scientific field techniques as part of Pepperwood Preserve's TeenNat program.

Conservation Scientists in the Making

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As an environmental educator, there is nothing better than seeing young people making observations and asking questions out in nature. Questions like, “Why do you think that bay tree and redwood are growing so close together?”, “Why are the tanoaks …

A giant step for understanding redwood tree rings

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Today, Redwoods and Climate Change Initiative scientist, Allyson Carroll, shares her perspective on how she decodes the history of redwoods from tree rings. Imagine finishing a massive puzzle, one involving nearly half a million pieces and taking years to complete… it feels …

When Tree Rings Become Music

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All the elements combine to shape the trees we walk among every day. We see the result in glorious towering and sometimes twisting trees that curve and arc above us. Deep within the trunk and branches of every tree, wooded …

Here at the League, we love learning about the forest! Photo of RCCI researcher collecting data, by Steve Sillett.

Top 5 Fascinating Redwoods Facts

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It’s National Environmental Education Week! This week is a celebration of environmental education and a special time to inspire learning and stewardship among students. I can’t say enough about how important outdoor education is to complete the circle of land …

Bringing Back the Big Trees

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A recent discovery has been making headlines around the world: Trees don’t grow more slowly as they get older as was previously assumed. Rather, the older the tree, the faster it bulks up! This rapid growth in old age is …

Enjoy summer’s sun-dappled trails, like this one in Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve. Photo by Julie Martin

Parks, Planet, Pavement: Redwood Highlights of 2013

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While many year-end lists will highlight the accomplishments of 2013, for Save the Redwoods League, the year is best reflected with three major highlights. Together these stories speak of the focus and commitment of the League and its partners, the unique …

You can be a scientist and help redwoods, too! Image © Save the Redwoods League

You Too Can Be A Scientist – Join Redwood Watch Today

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Did you ever want to be a scientist but think it’s just for professionals?  Love the redwoods but don’t know how to help?  Lucky for you, the League has a project that can solve both these problems. As part of …

RCCI researchers Chris Wong and Wendy Baxter monitor the seedlings. Photo by Anthony Ambrose.

The Seedling-Drought Experiment and Its Surprising Result

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Last week, I spent some time wondering broadly about our recent RCCI results, and just whether we could say for certain that 1) climate change is spurring an increase in redwood growth, and 2) if that change is “good” for …

Climate Change Discoveries Make Media Splash

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You may have heard about the surprising discoveries of the League’s Redwoods and Climate Change Initiative (RCCI) program, which drew unprecedented media coverage yesterday. Did you see the coverage in the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Jose Mercury News, the …

Vineyard conversion has become an increasingly significant threat to redwood forests in recent years.

Vineyards, Redwoods, and Climate Change

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The direct effects of climate change come in many different flavors – shifts in temperature and precipitation will have significant, though yet undetermined, implications for the redwood forest.  The ways in which climate change might indirectly affect the redwoods make …

Ferns in the Redwood Canopy

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In last week’s blog, I described my climb into a large double redwood to help Steve Sillett and his team make measurements for our Redwoods and Climate Change Initiative. While up in this tree, I was suspended alongside enormous fern …

forest floor

200 Feet Up a Redwood

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Harness cinched. Helmet buckled. Camera and notebook tucked in tightly. Knowing this was one of the last days this spring to collect coast redwood canopy data, we scurried up climbing ropes into the leafy forest canopy of Del Norte County. …

Sequoias Suddenly Snowless

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I fastened on my snowshoes and set off for a wintertime hike among the giant sequoias.  I quickly realized the snow in the forest was patchy at best and completely melted at worst, and it’s only March! It was shocking …

Coast redwoods on the UCI campus are not thriving.

Can redwoods thrive in Southern California climate?

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Redwoods do fine in Southern California, right? Researchers at UC Irvine are not totally convinced. In the 1980’s a scientist by the name of Ernest Ball cloned coast redwood giants from Northern California and reared test-tube redwoods. Many of these …