redwoods and climate change

High school students get hands-on experience studying climate change in the redwood forest at Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve.

An Earth Day for Science

on

This year’s Earth Day theme was focused on environmental and climate literacy, which means that we need to make sure everyone is educated on the impacts of climate change on our planet and the actions we can take to protect and sustain our environment.

Redwoods Education Reaches Across Language Barriers

on

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.

Origins of Grace Cathedral’s Redwood Altar

on

Grace Cathedral stands on top of San Francisco’s iconic Nob Hill. A large redwood altar has been a prominent feature of the Cathedral since 1964, inspiring many to wonder about the altar’s origin and the history of its wood. Grace …

Drought in the Redwoods

on

Last week I traveled northwards up the coast redwood range to check on weather conditions in the forest at Humboldt Redwoods, Prairie Creek, and Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Parks. Through our Redwoods and Climate Change Initiative, we are studying how …

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

on

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 …

Students measure fern fronds through a Save the Redwoods League education program at Redwood Regional Park. Photo ©Save the Redwoods League.

Our Redwood Classrooms

on

Bay Area residents got a sneak peek into the hopes and dreams of the Department of the Interior last week when Secretary Sally Jewell came to Crissy Field (external link) to announce the department’s new campaign to connect the next …

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

You Too Can Be A Scientist – Join Redwood Watch Today

on

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 …

In vitro culture of Aulacomnium turgidum regenerated from emergent Little Ice Age population beneath the Tear Drop Glacier, Sverdrup Pass, Ellesmere Island, Nunavut. Credit: Image courtesy of Catherine La Farge

The Toughest Plants in the World

on

It’s not often that I hear about a creature more resilient than redwoods.  After all, they grow faster, live longer, and reproduce more prolifically than just about any other tree.  Be that as it may, some very small, unassuming creatures …

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

Vineyards, Redwoods, and Climate Change

on

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 …

Coast redwoods on the UCI campus are not thriving.

Can redwoods thrive in Southern California climate?

on

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 …

(c) 2012 National Geographic

Large Old Trees at Risk

on

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 …

A researcher climbs a giant sequoia at Mountain Home Grove next to a burned giant sequoia that remains alive with two vigorous sprouts near its broken top. Photo credit: Bob Van Pelt

Burned out but not fading away

on

It’s fairly difficult for me to imagine living for 3,000 years. Yet giant sequoias live for millennia, standing tall in a single location as the years, decades, and centuries tick by. They are pounded by rain, snow, sweltering heat, lightening, …

Redwood tree cores.

Cross-section of a redwood tree?

on

Since I was a little girl, I’ve enjoyed standing next to the large cross-section of redwood trunk on display at the entrance of Muir Woods National Monument. It boggles my mind that this redwood started growing in the year 909 …

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

A Strong Foundation for Redwoods and Climate Change

on

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 …

Researcher Wendy Baxter climbs a fixed rope up into a 86.6m-tall giant sequoia tree at Calaveras Big Trees State Park. Photo by Anthony Ambrose

Barking up the Right Tree

on

It’s summertime and redwood researchers are putting on their climbing gear and ascending  into the leafy crowns of giant sequoias. A slow climb is worth the effort to see how the giants are growing. But why climb hundreds of feet …