Editor's Note: Cereus Fund 2009
In this issue we highlight the Cereus Fund, Trees Foundation's largest and longest-running donor-advised grantor. Over the past eleven years, the Cereus Fund has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to grassroots environmental projects throughout the redwood region. Showcasing the ability of one person to make a lasting difference, the Cereus Fund has helped enable restoration and preservation throughout California's North Coast. (read more)

Defending Public Lands: New Era of Yosemite Protection
On September 29, Friends of Yosemite Valley and the National Park Service (NPS) jointly announced a court-approved Settlement Agreement ending 10 years of litigation. This milestone consolidates our Ninth Circuit court victory of 2008 and opens the door for a new generation of protection for Yosemite's Merced River and valley. Under the terms of the Settlement the multi-million-dollar development-minded Yosemite Valley Plan is now rescinded. Follow-on plans to redevelop two Valley hotels are gone too, along with schemes for new parking, roads, and much more. Yosemite today appears to be at a truly new beginning. (read more)

Defending Public Lands: Defending Richardson Grove: A Tribal Perspective
The ancient Kahs-tcho (redwood trees) of Richardson Grove have always been regarded as sacred by Indigenous Peoples. Since time immemorial, the Nahs-lin-che keah and other Tribal peoples inhabited and utilized this area of Sinkyoko (S. Fork Eel River), including this place that later became known as Richardson Grove. For Native peoples, the Grove is special because our ancestors inhabited this region for thousands of years, long before the era when the Grove's now-huge trees were mere seedlings. The prayers and songs of our people are forever recorded within the memories of this sacred place. The delicate balance of Sinkyoko's redwood/river ecosystem was maintained through our people's annual world renewal ceremonies, their purposeful burning of the understory, and their wise use and care of the Kahs-tcho along with the myriad plant and animal communities that depend on this great tree for life. We are told our people's blood was one of the elements used in the creation of the Kahs-tcho, intended as a reminder to us that our life and the life of the "red-wood" are vitally connected. (read more)

Take Action!: Stop a Highway Project Through the Ancient Redwoods
Ask any visitor to California's North Coast who has driven the Redwood Highway north from San Francisco, and they'll be able to tell you exactly where they passed through the fabled "Redwood Curtain." At Richardson Grove State Park, just north of the Humboldt County line, Highway 101 narrows to a two-lane road winding through a dim, lush grove of ancient redwoods. These huge trees provide crucial habitat for endangered birds like the marbled murrelet; threatened salmon and steelhead still return each year to spawn in the creeks running through the park. (read more)

Defending Public Lands: The Redwood Curtain Bicycle Run, Part I
What do you do if your state budget is being slashed and burned by an inept actor (again), your State Parks are closing, and corporations are conspiring with developers and state transportation agencies to invade your rural and progressive paradise? On October 2, 2009, activists departed north of Arcata, California, on a bicycle ride heading south to bring attention to the proposed Caltrans project to widen Highway 101 within Richardson Grove State Park; and to support California State Parks facing closure due to Governor Schwarzenegger's state budget cuts. The "Redwood Curtain Bicycle Run" was a three-day adventure of cycling, camping, fun, and interaction with residents of Humboldt County along the Redwood Highway, ending at the "Redwood Curtain" of Richardson Grove State Park. (read more)

Wildfire Effects: Wanted Dead or Alive: Fire Scars and Cavities in Old-Growth Trees

Recent studies by Humboldt State University professor Steve Sillett and others have highlighted the incredible complexity of giant old-growth redwoods: canopies rich with iterated tops, huckleberry gardens, aerial salamanders, and even plankton. Yet only 3-5% of these ancient trees remain along California's coast. While many speak of restoration including creation of old-growth characteristics in young-growth forests, such efforts are new, experimental, and as yet unproven. (read more)

Diggin' In: The Gienger Report

To recap an earlier topic from this past summer's "Diggin' In," regarding the big effects of the California bond funding freeze on watershed restoration and related endeavors: The adverse effects continue and are severe, but a certain proportion of contracted projects have been "unfrozen" in the last couple of months, although MANY uncertainties continue. For all new projects, the freeze is still on. A lot of the restarted contracted projects are under high probability that funding will again be cut off before projects can be completed, with funding halted at the end of December 2009 or end of March 2010. Some bond sales are anticipated for February or March 2010. David Simpson, honcho of the Association of Conservation Contractors and Workers (ACCW)--founded early in 2009 at the annual conference of the Salmonid Restoration Federation (SRF)--is a key source of current information. He can be e-mailed at *hnpetrolia@aol.com*. You can also keep track of perspectives and information on the multifaceted website of "ReSeed California." Their purpose is "Collaborating to Support the Work of the Environmental Sector." (read more)

Community-based Forestry: Redwood Transect--The Challenge and the Opportunity

Mike Fay and Lindsey Holm's recent transect through the redwood region resulted in a front page cover story in the October issue of National Geographic: "Redwoods--The Super Trees" by Joel Bourne. The article on the transect is fascinating. The companion pieces on HSU professor Steve Sillett's canopy research high in the remaining old growth groves and Mike Nichols' ground breaking photo of an (unnamed) old-growth tree both provide significant new perspectives on our understanding of redwood trees. But, Mike and Lindsey's trek provides us with a new perspective on our redwood forests. (read more)

Cereus Fund 2009

We extend our heartfelt gratitude once again to the Cereus Fund for its commitment to connect, protect, and restore the wildlands of the North Coast... (read more)

Book Review: The Rebirth of Environmentalism: Grassroots Activism from the Spotted Owl to the Polar Bear by Douglas Bevington, Published by Island Press

The Rebirth of Environmentalism covers the iconic campaigns of the fight for the ancient redwoods of Headwaters Forest, the drive to end liquidation of our public lands forests via the Zero Cut Campaign and the Center for Biological Diversity's cutting edge litigation for species on the brink of extinction. One of the things that makes the book relevant reading for those working in or even observing environmental advocacy is that the campaigns are not iconic so much because of their megaflora and megafauna at center stage in those battles, but that they are emblematic of the effectiveness of the grassroots end of the environmental movement, in comparison with the large national NGO's lumbering down the same campaign paths. (read more)

Trees Foundation awarded 2009 Sempervirens Award for Lasting Achievement in Environmental Advocacy
Each year the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC) selects one individual to receive this prestigious award. This year Trees Foundation was the honored recipient. Thank you EPIC and thank you to all of the Trees Foundation supporters--we could not have done it without you! (read more)