40th Annual Salmonid Restoration Conference
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…
Read More2022 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,…
Read MoreEnter to Win! 2022 Quilt Raffle
$5 each or five for $20. Quilt is King Size. Drawing March 21st, 2023. Tickets available at TreesFoundation.org
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Annual Pikeminnow Dive Provides Insight
into Health of South Fork Eel River
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…
Read MoreGrassroots Spotlight: Native Health in Native Hands
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,…
Read MoreThe Richard Gienger Report
The record October 2021 rains are a distant memory, but those rains seemed to have triggered some very good coho spawning numbers in many North Coast streams. Then we had basically no rain from January 1st through March, and we started getting frantic. April and May rain came as a real blessing and changed our…
Read MorePublic Records Requests and the Maintenance of Democracy
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:…
Read More24th Annual Coho Confab on the South Fork Eel River
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
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 Buckeye Ridge Prescribed Fire:
A Nonprofit’s Perspective
By Ali Freedlund, Mattole Restoration Council Charged into the marrow of my life is how I felt participating in the Stansberry Ranch’s 109-acre prescribed burn that occurred in February just outside Honeydew, California. The Buckeye Ridge burn was supposed to happen in the fall of 2020, but the river was the force that prevented it.…
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The Oak Knoll Prescribed Fire:
A Landowner’s Perspective
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
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…
Read MoreTell 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…
Read MoreThe 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…
Read MorePomo Perspective with Michael Hunter
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…
Read MoreThe 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…
Read MoreThe 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…
Read MoreBack in Person! 23rd Annual Coho Confab to be Held on the Navarro River Aug 20-22, 2021
Evolving Strategies to Enhance Coho Salmon Habitat Salmonid Restoration Federation (SRF) is coordinating the 23rd Annual Coho Confab that will take place August 20-22 on the Navarro River in Mendocino County. This year’s Coho Confab will be held at River’s Bend Retreat Center in Philo which is nestled in the redwoods. The Coho Confab is…
Read MoreBuilding a Local Workforce for the Restoration Economy
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…
Read MoreState Awards $5 Million Grant for Forest Health and Wildfire Resilience in Southern Humboldt
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…
Read MoreMusings 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…
Read MoreRemembering Dave Foreman, 1946–2022
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…
Read MoreEndangered Coho Salmon Finally Secure Habitat Protection in Marin County, CA
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…
Read MoreThe Richard Gienger Report
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…
Read MoreCoyote Brush
Baccharis pilularis Coyote brush is an evergreen shrub that blooms in late fall and early winter, a time of year when there are few sources of nectar for small butterflies, predatory wasps, and flies. This makes coyote brush a valuable plant, ecologically speaking, as it supports thousands of insects that in turn support birds, other…
Read MoreBroken Treaties & Broken Promises
Fresh Assaults On Jackson State Forest Belie Official Statements of Intent to Cooperate With the Public’s Wishes “California Native peoples have not forgotten the true history of the State of California, and we hope that our reexamination of the historical record is the first of many steps towards restoring the balance between California Indigenous people…
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