Founded in 1991, this marks Trees Foundation's 20th year serving grassroots environmental groups throughout the redwood region. We thought we would take this opportunity to look back at the last two decades of progress and challenges in the forest, rivers, and communities of the region. (read more)
20 Years in the Forest: Trees Foundation: A Beginning
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20 Years in the Forest: How We Came Together, the Whole We Built That Was Greater Than the Parts
Twenty-one years ago, the last decade of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st started with a bang. A loud and profound explosion, in fact, that reverberated throughout the redwood region and the nascent Headwaters Forest campaign. A pipe bomb planted under the seat in Judi Bari's car as we launched our Redwood Summer organizing campaign nearly killed her, injured Darryl Cherney, and suddenly landed us in challenging new territory, as we lunged forward from that pivotal moment into the 1990 chapter of the Headwaters Forest campaign. (read more)
20 Years in the Forest: Twenty Years of Northwest Forest Defense: The Politics of the Spotted Owl Party Like its 1992
Twenty years ago...1992. It was a different world. The Internet was in its earliest infancy, nobody had a cell phone or knew what email was, and Kurt Cobain was still writing grunge rock classics. And it was still very much an open question whether or not old-growth forests in our National Forests would be completely liquidated outside of the minimal reserves found in designated wilderness areas. (read more)
Diggin' In: The Gienger Report
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North Coast Living: The Green Rush Economic Boom-Ecological Bust
"The only possible guarantee of the future is responsible behavior in the present. When supposed future needs are used to justify misbehavior in the present, as is the tendency with us, then we are both perverting the present and diminishing the future." Wendell Berry (read more)
Cereus Fund of Trees Foundation: 2011 Report
In this section we highlight the Cereus Fund, Trees Foundation's largest and longest-running donor-advised grantor. Over the past thirteen years the Cereus Fund has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to grassroots environmental efforts throughout the redwood region. One person making a significant difference! (read more)
Editor's Note
Twenty years of Trees Foundation (read more)
North Coast Living: Behind the Shadows of Totem Salmon: A Brief Life History of the Pacific Giant Salamander and the Foothill Yellow-legged Frog
I first walked the streams of Humboldt County when I was five years old, as a visitor from the urban, concrete world. Each summer my parents would leave the bustling streets of San Francisco and make their way north, to the hills of Humboldt County to get a taste of country life and to feel a different pace and way of living. In the 1970s, my family had close friends who were making their new life in a small watershed known as Salmon Creek, a tributary of the South Fork Eel, and it was in this watershed that I began my earliest flirtations with water--a soon to become love affair that would last a lifetime. (read more)
Richardson Grove Update: Big Trees vs. Big Trucks
Opposition to the Caltrans project to widen Highway 101 through Richardson Grove State Park is active on many fronts. On the legal front, the lawsuit brought by the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC), the Center for Biological Diversity , and Californians for Alternatives to Toxics is progressing in Federal Court. There is also a companion action in California State Court. (read more)
Welcome Our New Partner: Siskiyou Land Conservancy
In 2002, the non-profit Smith River Project secured $100,000 in private funding to purchase a rare gem of private land on the North Fork Smith River. The Smith River Project, a Trees Foundation Partner, was dedicated in large part to protecting habitat on private lands ("inholdings") surrounded by the Smith River National Recreation Area. When the organization secured the acquisition funding, as well as a significantly reduced purchase price, plant lovers were ecstatic, as the property was famous throughout the world for its pristine expanse of rare (read more)
Summer Hike Program: Sharing Knowledge, Spreading Ideas, and Enjoying Nature's Beauty
Since our creation in 1987, Sanctuary Forest has been working to conserve the Mattole River watershed through protection of old-growth forests and salmon habitat, restoration, stewardship, and education. The exchange of ideas and spread of knowledge among our diverse community has always been crucial for the success of our programs. For the past 15 years, one of the most important ways Sanctuary Forest has connected with the wider community has been through leading a series of interpretive hikes each summer. Our 2011 Hike Program is now well underway, and as always these hikes encourage appreciation and enjoyment of the remarkable ecosystems that surround us. But this year, our program focuses more than ever on educating hikers about the specific conservation and restoration techniques and projects that Sanctuary Forest and our partners are using to protect this landscape. (read more)
Editors Note
The Greek philosopher Aristotle once made a telling observation which held as much accuracy in his time as it does today: "that which is common to the greatest number has the least care bestowed upon it." He was referring to a phenomenon known as the `tragedy of the commons,' which arises when multiple individuals, acting independently and in their own self-interest, deplete a shared limited resource despite its detriment to the long-term interests of everyone. (read more)
Cereus Fund: Turning Vision into Action
Truly an inspiration to those with a conservation vision for the wildlands of the North Coast, over the past twelve years Cereus Fund has contributed to hundreds of projects completed by grassroots groups and individuals committed to the recovery and restoration of our region. Established by a private donor, Cereus Fund is further proof that one person can make a lasting difference. The following section describes some of the projects supported by Cereus in 2010. (read more)
North Coast Living: New Landscape Linkage at the Top of South Fork Eel River
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