40th Annual Salmonid Restoration Conference

The view near the Fortuna River Lodge, location of the 40th Annual Coho Confab

April 25-28, 2023 at the Fortuna River Lodge Salmonid Restoration Federation (SRF) is excited to host the 40th Annual Salmonid Restoration Conference in Fortuna, CA, where participants will have the opportunity to explore innovative restoration projects and participate in technical workshops. The conference will highlight various estuary projects, dam removal, process-based strategies, and a wide…

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2022 Cereus Reports

In 1998, a generous individual contacted Trees Foundation with the desire to support local grassroots environmental activism. Shortly thereafter, the Cereus Fund of Trees Foundation was created. Her desire was to give annually, not only to Trees Foundation, but also to our many Partner groups. For 23 years, with direct input of the Cereus Funder,…

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Annual Pikeminnow Dive Provides Insight
into Health of South Fork Eel River

ERRP in the river
Phil Georgakakos gets ready for plunge into deep high gradient riffle with Stella Stein trailing him. Photo by Pat Higgins

By Eel River Restoration Project The seventh annual Eel River Recovery Project pikeminnow survey of a key reach of the South Fork Eel River took place on June 28th and 29th. It was determined that despite the population of this non-native predator remaining high, there were a surprising number of salmon and steelhead juveniles and…

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Grassroots Spotlight: Native Health in Native Hands

Ernest Lincoln, on the far left, holds a canoe paddle and sits in the canoe that he and other Wailaki are building as a renewal of an ancient cultural tradition. To his right is Erin Gates, the Deputy District Superintendent for California State Park’s North Coast Redwood District, along with other participants and supporters of the redwood canoe project.

Revitalizing Wailaki Cultural Practices By Kerry Reynolds, Organizational Development & Partner Support, Trees Foundation In late 2021, an email came into Trees Foundation that asked about our mapmaking services. That was nothing unusual—GIS mapmaking is one of our most popular services. Little did I know then, that we had just made contact with Perry Lincoln,…

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Public Records Requests and the Maintenance of Democracy

One of the documents released by CAL FIRE in response to the author’s August, 2021 request: an invoice for six days of private security in the Caspar 500 THP.

A Jackson Demonstration State Forest Case Study Implicit in a democratic process is the notion that government should be accountable for its actions. In order to verify accountability, individuals must have access to government files. Such access permits checks against the arbitrary exercise of official power and secrecy in the political process. (California Supreme Court:…

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24th Annual Coho Confab on the South Fork Eel River

Cedar Creek and the South Fork Eel.
The Coho Confab will be held at the confluence of Cedar Creek and the South Fork Eel. Cal Trout is leading a fish passage barrier removal project on Cedar Creek that will open up nine miles of habitat. Photo courtesy SRF

Evolving Strategies to Enhance Coho Salmon Habitat Salmonid Restoration Federation Salmonid Restoration Federation (SRF) is coordinating the 24th Annual Coho Confab that will take place September 9–11, 2022 on the South Fork Eel River in Mendocino County. This year’s Coho Confab will be held at the Rangjung Gomde Buddhist Retreat Center, which is nestled in…

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Prescribed Fire:
An Indigenous Perspective

Margo Robbins and others re-introducing fire to the land, starting the test fire with wormwood torches.

By Margo Robbins, Cultural Fire Management Council The following is a transcript of the talk given by Margo Robbins during a webinar hosted by Trees Foundation on Oct. 3rd, 2021 titled “Pathways to Fire Resilience.” She refers to some photos from her slideshow that don’t appear here, but you may watch her full presentation with…

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The Oak Knoll Prescribed Fire:
A Landowner’s Perspective

The Oak Knoll prescribed fire during the burn is set from the top of the hill, working downward to ensure manageable fire behavior.

By Mitchell Danforth Wildfires represent the single greatest threat to most of our inland communities, especially in recent times, as fires have grown in size, intensity, and damage to people and property. It is critical to acknowledge that fires are not good or evil, they simply are—and like floods, landslides, snowstorms, and earthquakes, how we…

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The Old Briceland Ridge Prescribed Fire:
An Ecological Field Observer’s Perspective

Female Western Pond Turtle (Actinemys marmorata) forced to wake from winter hibernation in mid February on Old Briceland Ridge, 1960’ elevation in conifer/mixed forest. (She was safely relocated a few hours later.)

By Kyle Keegan Ecological Restoration Is Not a Race: Lessons from Western Pond Turtle It was a 70-degree afternoon in February 2022 on Old Briceland Ridge: 1,960 feet of elevation amidst stands of Douglas-fir, scattered Tanoak, and Chinquapin. Winds were light out of the southwest, and relative humidities were in the high 40s. Fire had…

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Tell PG&E to STOP Ravaging our Trees and FIX their Infrastructure Instead!

The Redwood Chapter of Sierra Club is leading a campaign to demand that PG&E stops ravaging our trees and instead invests in modern infrastructure that will greatly reduce wildfire risk. State leaders must hold PG&E accountable for its negligence. Why This Matters PG&E’s antiquated infrastructure is vulnerable to high winds and its outdated lines create…

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The Cereus Fund of Trees Foundation Continues to Help Grassroots Environmental Advocacy in the Redwoods Region

The following pages highlight grassroots environmental projects supported by the Cereus Fund of Trees Foundation in 2021. Established in 1998, the Cereus Fund is a part of Trees Foundation’s Donor Advised Program which allows individuals to donate and direct funding to projects of their choice, which Trees Foundation administers on their behalf. To learn more…

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Pomo Perspective with Michael Hunter

California Tribal Chairpersons Association

The following is a partial transcript of the Oct. 18, 2021, KZYX Public Affairs show hosted by Alicia Littletree Bales, edited for length. Alicia Littletree Bales: Good morning, this is Alicia Bales. I’m live in the Ukiah studio with Michael Hunter [Chair of the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians] …and we’re going to hear…

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The Map: A Mythic Recollection

By Jeff Hedin Editor’s Note: We are excited to announce that the Mateel Region Conservation Context map—23 years in the making—is now available on our website at treesfoundation.org/map. We would like to acknowledge the dedicated work of activists Jeff Hedin and Rob DiPerna in the creation of this map, and to Trees Foundation’s past GIS…

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The Early Days of Trees Foundation

By Leib Ostrow, co-founder and current Board Treasurer of Trees Foundation Ah, tracing the roots of Trees Foundation. For me its starts with fleeing my birthplace, as industrial a place as you can find, Detroit, Michigan. I had witnessed some of the worst of what humans could do to our Mother Earth and was searching…

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Building a Local Workforce for the Restoration Economy

Crew break and check-in with the crew boss on the Redwood Forest Foundation, Inc. (RFFI) portion of the Northern Mendocino County Forest Health Collaborative project. all photos this article by Will Emerson, Northern Mendocino Ecosystem Recovery Alliance

By Cheyenne Clarke and Will Emerson, Northern Mendocino Ecosystem Recovery Alliance Extraction-based economies boom and bust. Resources run out. Industries collapse. Therefore, extraction is not a viable form of economic growth for the future. So, what is? Restoration, regeneration, and renewal. The restoration economy can fill the void left behind by extractive industries. To quote…

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State Awards $5 Million Grant for Forest Health and Wildfire Resilience in Southern Humboldt

MRC Saw Crew poses for photo on their first official day at the Chapman Ranch. The crew will later perform falling operations in Sudden Oak Death territory on steep slopes to start repairing the damage done by the Canoe Fire, 2003. (From left to right: Shira Brown, Samuel Keener, David Liming, Wyatt Leach, Bill Leach, Miles Oliart, Liam McPhee, Sam Epperson, Jordan Anderson). Photo by Eleonore J. Anderson

By Southern Humboldt Forest Health Collaborative CAL FIRE has entered into a nearly $5 million grant agreement with the Humboldt County Resource Conservation District (HCRCD) to implement the Mattole and Salmon Creek Forest Health and Wildfire Resilience Project across 1,022 acres of forest and grasslands near the southern Humboldt communities of Petrolia and Salmon Creek…

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Musings on Forest Health

Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities, Healthy Comebacks PG&E’s Line-Clearing, Why We Need More than Memes, and Some Key Definitions of Healthy and Forest By Jeff Hedin, Institute for Sustainable Forestry, Commissioner, Piercy Volunteer Fire Department This article has been edited for length. For the whole “poetic song” and its long email response thread, visit instituteforsustainableforestry.com/articles/forest-health. In…

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Remembering Dave Foreman, 1946–2022

Dave Foreman during the 1989 Earth First! Round River Rendezvous in the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico.

Earth First! Co-Founder and Iconic “Redneck for Wilderness” Dave Foreman: Father of the Modern Environmental Movement By Darryl Cherney, Environmentally Sound Promotions Dave Foreman, one of Earth First!’s most visible spokespeople for nearly a decade from 1981 to 1990, passed away Sept. 19, 2022, just before he would have turned 75. While controversial, Dave, a…

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Endangered Coho Salmon Finally Secure Habitat Protection in Marin County, CA

Youth activist testifies at Marin County Supervisors hearing on SCA ordinance.

Two Decades, Multiple Lawsuits, and Creative Grassroots Persistence Was the Key to Success By Todd Steiner, Salmon Protection And Watershed Network Forest Knolls, CA—This is a story that begs to begin with the proverbial “once upon a time,” as it has all the classic elements of a captivating, decades-long tale. The endangered coho salmon is…

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The Richard Gienger Report

A beautiful example of a decommissioned and recontoured road healing and growing back. photo by Ash Brookens

Time moves fast, stalwarts in mirror reflections, and we anxiously wait—while trying to prepare—for what Winter and Spring will bring. I feel daunted, almost swept away, in the layers of complexity of “all the relations,” the history, and realities we face. Remembering Influential Community Members Along with the joy of life-returning rains in September has…

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