Conservation Partner Organizations at Work
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…
Read MoreThe Richard Gienger Report
Got the existential blues these days, except for the wonderful return of the rains since the 15th of October. From dry or barely damp stream and river beds to record flows for the month of October. Bursting optimism for salmon migration and spawning and for continued rains through the fall, winter, and spring. Lingering concern…
Read MoreCommunity Organizing for Fire Resilience
The following is a partial transcript of the “Pathways to Fire Resilience” webinar held on Oct. 3rd in lieu of an in-person Trees Foundation 30th Anniversary event, which was postponed due to COVID-19 concerns. Ali Freedlund was the first presenter, followed by Margo Robbins, Lenya Quinn-Davidson, Tim Bailey, Will Harling, and Cybelle Immitt. To view…
Read MoreFifteen Years and Counting: Time to Lift the Veil on Carbon Markets on the North Coast
By Gary Graham Hughes “I am not interested in learning where the money comes from, I don’t have time. I just need to focus on my work.” These words were spoken by a long-time forestry professional with extensive experience on the North Coast and throughout California when I asked about a perspective on the ramifications…
Read MoreBull Kelp
Nereocystis luetkeana It is amazing that something can grow up to 200 feet in one year! Bull kelp is the fastest-growing seaweed in the world and can grow up to two feet per day. This is especially amazing because bull kelp is an annual—germinating, growing, reproducing, and dying all within a year-long cycle. Bull kelp…
Read MoreRestoring Native Grass Species Can Help Reduce High-Intensity Fire Risk
Eel River Restoration Project By Kirsten Hill and Pat Higgins Recent California fires have been devastating, and experts tell us that such catastrophic events are likely to recur. Three causal mechanisms are: years of wildland fire suppression, impacts of climate change, and the continual spread of invasive grasses that exacerbate the intensity of fires—a factor…
Read MoreThe Struggle to Save Richardson Grove Continues
Environmental Protection Information Center For more than a decade, EPIC and our allies have fought off the misguided and controversial Richardson Grove Project, a proposal to realign a section of Highway 101 that runs through the ancient redwoods of Richardson Grove State Park. While we have held off the bulldozers and cement trucks through successive…
Read MoreHuman Nature: Comedy of the Wild
Human Nature Human Nature has been producing theater—mostly comedy and musical comedy—about crucial environmental and social issues since 1979. Their shows tend to be bawdy, tragi-comic, and absolutely serious all at once. They have moved, delighted, and pissed off audiences from South Africa to Istanbul to New York City to Briceland, CA. The company’s initial…
Read MoreClimate-Smart Conservation in the Klamath Mountains
Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center By Alexi Lovechio Here in northern California we are surrounded by one of the largest carbon reserves in the Northern Hemisphere. Forests capture and store carbon, which helps offset pollution that causes climate change. Old-growth forests—containing trees that are often centuries old in a rich bed of living soil—are extremely efficient at…
Read MoreWhy Is CAL FIRE Trying to Silence Its Critics?
Mendocino Trail Stewards By Chad Swimmer Author’s note: We in no way mean to disrespect first responders who put their lives on the line to protect us, but the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF), known as CAL FIRE since 2007, has two conflicting mandates—forestry and fire response—which makes any criticism of one…
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