With California’s record-breaking wildfires of 2020 still fresh in the memory of legislators, Gov. Gavin Newsom has earmarked $1 billion in his proposed budget to address the need for forest restoration, fire prevention and recovery.
Save the Redwoods League today announced the completion of the purchase of Cascade Creek, a 564-acre property between Big Basin Redwoods and Año Nuevo State Parks. The $9.6 million project — including both land acquisition, closing and initial stewardship costs — marks a keystone connection for protected habitat from the Santa Cruz Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. It also advances the League’s goal of protecting the last of the old-growth redwood forest as identified in their 2018 Centennial Vision for Redwoods Conservation.
League Director of Science Kristen Shive, PhD, gave a talk about California’s unprecedented fire season in 2020 and its effects on our iconic coast redwood and giant sequoia forests.
Save the Redwoods League has safeguarded the long-term health of a keystone forest with the December 2020 purchase of the Cascade Creek property, home to old-growth and mature second-growth redwoods in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The acquisition creates continuous habitat from the mountains to the Pacific Ocean within the ancestral territory of the Quiroste Tribe.
The fire at Big Basin Redwoods State Park made headlines around the world, but it was far from the only redwood park to burn. Sadly, each of the parks forced to close by fire had only recently been reopened following the state’s COVID-19 stay-home order.
In the giant sequoia range, roughly 16,000 acres (or 34 percent of the range) had burned, most of which is old growth. We have yet to assess the fire effects on the ground, but as with most modern wildfires, there will likely be a mix of beneficial and detrimental ecological effects.
Data show that the relationship between giant sequoia and fire is changing
It’s been about three months since fire swept through Big Basin Redwoods State Park, and we thought we’d check in on this remarkable coast redwood forest. As we’ve discussed, most of the redwoods will be OK. In the video, you can see the famed Mother of the Forest Tree, charred but still living and surviving. In all, fascinating to see a resilient forest evolve.
SQF Complex Fire in the giant sequoia
redwoods are an important part of climate change policy
Save the Redwoods League and Mendocino Land Trust today announced the reopening of the Peter Douglas Trail through the Shady Dell candelabra redwood trees in Mendocino County. This reopening follows more than a year of restoration and repair efforts to Usal Road and the Peter Douglas Trail that were damaged in the 2019 Usal Fire.
The League’s giant sequoia forest fellow shares her story about how she came to work in giant sequoia conservation, and what needs to be done to protect the forest and restore its fire resilience.
Following the SQF Complex Fire, the fire impacts on the giant sequoia of the Alder Creek property appear to be beneficial.
We remain hopeful as SQF Complex Fire moves through Alder Creek “And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, in fact, whether the storm …
News that wildfire had destroyed most of the buildings and facilities at Big Basin Redwoods State Park created an outpouring of generosity over the past two weeks from donors looking to speed up the iconic park’s comeback.
Fire destroyed the Big Basin Redwoods State Park Nature Museum. Work on the project was well underway in the original building when the CZU August Lightning Complex Fire came through the headquarters on Aug. 18, destroying everything.
Fire nearing giant sequoia: We’re continuing to closely monitor the Sequoia Complex Fire in the Sequoia National Forest. As of right now, it appears the fire has started to move west, and is now about a mile away from the Freeman Creek giant sequoia grove.
Since the League joined with Sempervirens Fund last week to create the Big Basin Recovery Fund, so many generous people have stepped forward to help. Pachama offered a $5,000 match to the Big Basin Recovery Fund to inspire others to take an active role in rebuilding this wondrous park and the forest around it. Together, we’ve raised more than $100,000 to fund the park’s immediate needs, as well as help lay the groundwork for its reconstruction.
With attention on the coast redwoods, we’re also keeping our eye on fire near giant sequoia. Unlike their coast redwood cousins, giant sequoia lack the ability to sprout after fire, so a severe wildfire can outright kill these ancient trees.
Of more than a million acres burned, wildfires have burned approximately 72,000 acres of coast redwood forest during the August Lightning Siege of 2020. Roughly 9,000 acres of this has been in old-growth redwoods.
