Save-the-Redwoods LeagueFall Bulletin 2005

Grove of Tall Trees in Redwood National and State ParksPhoto courtesy of the National Park Service

S a v e - t h e - R e d w o o d s L e a g u e | F a l l B u l l e t i n Page S a v e - t h e - R e d w o o d s L e a g u e | F a l l B u l l e t i n Page

Letter from the Executive Director

As we work from day to day on the multitude ofprojects like those you will read about in thisbulletin, we think often with gratitude of the

support from you, our members, that is critical for oursuccesses. With far less frequency, we pause to considerhow saving the redwoods fits into actions taken on aglobal scale to protect places of special significance thatinspires and sustains the world’s peoples.

In early June, the League was honored to participate inhosting a gathering in Muir Woods to celebrate UnitedNations World Environment Day. The Director of theUN’s Environmental Program, Klaus Toepfer, andmayors from cities around the world traveled fromdowntown San Francisco on the last day of their five-day conference, for an early morning walk in theredwoods. With sunshine streaming through the trees,the delegates, League Directors and Councillors, andinvited guests circled the ancient redwoods ofCathedral Grove and stood in silence, listening to themorning sounds of the forest and the echoes of history.

Sixty years ago, at the end of the Second World War,world leaders convened in San Francisco to found theUnited Nations. They, too, traveled to Muir Woods.They went to honor recently deceased PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt whose vision of an organizationdedicated to world peace was pivotal to thearchitecture of the United Nations.

As emcee for the program that followed our walk, Ihad the opportunity to tell the story of how one manhad acted to save Muir Woods. In 1903, William Kentwas alerted to plans to fell the ancient redwood forestto build a dam at the mouth of Redwood Creek tostore water for nearby growing communities.Convinced there was another way to meet the demandfor water, but no other way to replace the cathedralformed by the canyon’s ancient redwoods, the Kentfamily acted. They used their savings to purchase thecanyon to protect the majesty of that place, to assurethat the stately tempo of that forest would continueuninterrupted. They acted to preserve the peace thatinspires all who visit.

William Kent’s purchase of Muir Woods was thecatalyst for the engagement of many others in the yearsthat followed, eventually transforming RedwoodCanyon into a National Monument, visited each yearby nearly a million people. William Kent also went onto join with others to found Save-the-Redwoods Leaguein 1918, which has developed and implemented astrategy to halt the devastation of the redwood forest,through purchase of more than 170,000 acres stretchingfrom the California’s northernmost coastal range to thetip of the Big Sur coast.

In June, the mayors returned to San Francisco to signaccords based on their unique opportunity as mayors ofcities around the globe to lead their communities throughappropriate local actions to protect the planet’s naturalsystems as a critical part of sustainable urban centers in anera in which, for the first time, more of the earth’spopulation lives in urban centers than in rural areas.

Protection of the natural system anchored by theredwoods has been the mission of Save-the-RedwoodsLeague for more than 87 years, a mission that youmake possible by your engagement and membership inthis organization.

As John Muir said about the redwoods, “These kingsof the forest, the noblest of a noble race, rightly belongto the world, but as they are in California, we cannotescape the responsibility as their guardians. Fortunately,the American people are equal to this trust.” Thankyou for joining with us as the guardians of theredwoods.

Phot

o by

Rus

kin

Har

tley

ach fall chinook salmonreturn to Redwood National andState Parks and the RedwoodCreek watershed. After a life atsea, they make the arduousjourney back to their birthplace tospawn in Redwood Creek.Winding their way upstream, theyimpress the Park’s human visitorswith their determination andpluck. As they ascend beyond thePark’s upstream boundary, manyof them head up one of RedwoodCreek’s largest tributaries, a steepand deeply cleaved waterwayknown as Lacks Creek. Here theyfind the fresh, quickly movingwaters, gravel and food requiredfor successful reproduction. Fromthe high, steep slopes on theeastern side of Lacks Creek,waterfalls drop cool water into deeppools, which provide a sanctuary forthe salmon.

The chinook are not alone in the waters of Lacks. It isalso a key creek for the area’s cutthroat, steelhead, andcoho. It is the only tributary to Redwood Creek,upstream of the park, which hosts all four of theanadromous species so central to the identity of thePark five miles downstream.

This summer, Save-the-Redwoods League spearheadedthe purchase of 4,500 acres of the Lacks Creekwatershed to restore the area’s own ecological integrityand to ensure the safety of the Park downstream. Whenthe National Park was established by Congress in 1968it included 58,000 acres, focused on the majestic old-growth redwoods of lower Redwood Creek. Ten yearslater, to address the impacts of the upper watershed onthe health of the redwoods on the alluvial flats, the Park

was expanded by an additional 48,000acres reaching up Redwood Creek. Atthe same time, Congress designated a“Park Protection Zone” identifying thearea even further upstream in whichacquisition and restoration would be apriority. Lacks Creek is the heart of thatProtection Zone.

Today, Lacks Creek is still a very wildplace. Open prairies are linked by aDouglas-fir forest suited to the drierclimate further inland than themoisture-rich environment required bythe redwoods. But for all of itswildness, and all of its beauty, parkecologists and geologists recognize thatit also “contains some loaded guns thatare pointing at the salmon and at thePark downstream,” says Greg Bundros,a geologist with the Park.

Those loaded guns are major erosionevents waiting to happen. Timber has been harvestedfrom much of the area over the decades and both activeand abandoned logging roads lace the hills rising fromthe creek.

Bundros has spent a decade studying the RedwoodCreek watershed, identifying the areas that pose thegreatest threat to the ecology of the Park downstream.Lacks Creek follows a seismic fault and its inner gorgeis “remarkably steep, unstable, and prone to landsliding,” says Bundros. Over the years, logging roadshave further destabilized the hill slopes surrounding thecreek. According to Bundros, road density exceedingthree miles per square mile on such land is considereddangerous. Here the densities are often twice that. Amajor landslide event could not only devastate thespawning habitat, but could also wreak havocdownstream in the Park itself. Lacks Creek has already

E

Upstream DownstreamLacks Creek: A Key Connection

Falls at Lacks CreekPhoto courtesy of Bureau of Land Management

(continued on page 4)

Kate Anderton and Klaus Toepfer, Executive Directorof the United Nations Environmental Program,walking through Muir Woods.

begun to recover from years of intensive logging buttreating the roads in Lacks Creek will prevent sedimentthat combines with erosion from upper RedwoodCreek, to alter its hydrology and pose risks to some ofthe big trees that are the crown jewels of the Park.

Bob Barnum has been involved in the Park since itsinception. As a major landowner in Lacks Creek andHumboldt County, Bob was part of the original Parkplanning committee in the 1960s and recognized thatone day his lands in Lacks could play an important rolein protecting the Park.

A few years ago, when a variety of factors led Barnumto consider selling some of his land, he thought of the2,000 acres in Lacks Creek that he has been logging fordecades as part of a family ranch centered in RedwoodCreek. Barnum liked the idea of both adding to thePark’s Protection Zone and ensuring that he knew hisdownstream neighbors.

Bob is the fourth generation of Barnums in HumboldtCounty. His great grandfather ran mules on the trailslinking the Pacific Coast to the gold country in theTrinity Alps. Over the years, Barnum Timber hasaccumulated forestland throughout the area. But astimber values have dropped, and the price andcomplexities of securing timber harvest plans inCalifornia have risen, it has become increasinglydifficult to make the land profitable through logging,according to Barnum.

Some might see that as a good thing. After all, it wasgetting the logging industry to assume responsibilityfor more of the real ecological costs of logging thatmotivated the adoption of the regulations that are nowstraining the pocketbooks of the timber companies.But with dwindling profits and growing costs, manyprivate forest owners today are looking for anothereasier way to get returns from their lands. At the rate ofabout 30,000 acres a year, California landowners arechopping up their holdings and turning their secondgrowth into second homes for affluent vacationers orurban refugees.

“When a forest is subdivided and built on, theenvironmental impacts on the area may be far worsethan those of good logging practices,” says KateAnderton, the League’s Executive Director. More roadsare built, more water is diverted or drawn from the

S a v e - t h e - R e d w o o d s L e a g u e | F a l l B u l l e t i n Page S a v e - t h e - R e d w o o d s L e a g u e F a l l B u l l e t i n Page

“Lacks Creek is a key link in a chain of public and private lands extending inland from the coast,”

Lynda RoushArcata Field Manager, Bureau of Land Management

watershed except for a single, large, well-managed,historic family ranch.

BLM’s lands, known as the Lacks Creek Area ofCritical Environmental Concern (LCACEC), includean impressive old-growth Douglas-fir forest, providingkey habitat for spotted owl, marbled murrelet, andgolden eagle. The addition will allow BLM to extendrecreational use for hikers, horseback riders, and cyclistswhile also securing its ecological integrity. “Lacks Creekis a key link in a chain of public and private landsextending inland from the coast,” says Lynda Roush,BLM Arcata Field Manager.

We encourage you to make a visit to Lacks Creek, towalk through its prairies and forests in a landscape thatis now protected for all time, immune to the pressuresof subdivision development and further logging. Then,plan a hike down into the Tall Trees Grove in RedwoodNational and State Parks and experience theconnection of Redwood Creek’s tributaries to themagnificent ancient redwoods of the lower River.

aquifer, and pesticide use and runoff increase. Andonce a large forest has been divided into pieces, andeach one sold for the highest price, it is virtuallyimpossible ever to put it back together again. As longas a forest can remain in large tracts, there is a chanceit can be restored or preserved. “In the case of lands inthe Redwood National and State Parks ProtectionZone, this is particularly important,” says Anderton.

Several years ago, Barnum asked the Park Service ifthey would like to buy his 2,000 acres in Lacks Creek.He was well aware how valuable it was as the upstreamspawning ground for the watershed’s salmon and troutand for ensuring a safe future for the Park’s keybiological assets.

Although the Park Service acknowledged theimportance of the holdings to the Park, there wassimply no budget for acquisitions at that time. He thenturned to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM),which already owned about 4,100 acres of Douglas-firforest in the Lacks Creek watershed. The BLM saidthey would very much like to acquire the land, buttheir budget wouldn’t allow it either.

That’s when Save-the-Redwoods League stepped in,raising money and working with Barnum and anotherprivate landowner, Eel River Sawmills, and the BLM tomake the deal. And this summer saw the conclusion ofthe project with purchase and transfer to BLM of some4,500 acres, protecting virtually the entire Lacks Creek

Redwood Creek Photo by Bob Wick, Bureau of Land Management

(continued from page 3)

Map by GreenInfo Network www.greeninfo.org

S a v e - t h e - R e d w o o d s L e a g u e | F a l l B u l l e t i n Page S a v e - t h e - R e d w o o d s L e a g u e | F a l l B u l l e t i n Page

When Edison Middle Schoolteacher Ellen Sachtjen launched theSequoia for Youth Program sevenyears ago, she had merely hoped totake some students to SequoiaNational Park to participate in itsmanagement planning process. Shewanted to give them a chance tocontribute their views on how thepark might be woven into a middleschool curriculum. Many studentshad no idea where or what SequoiaNational Park was. In fact, manyhad never left south central LosAngeles at all.

Today there are hundreds ofgraduates from the Sequoia forYouth Program, which received aneducation grant from the League in2005. All of those grads know a gooddeal about the park and its ecology, and a lot moreabout their own neighborhood.

“When I first saw a Sequoia tree, Icouldn’t believe it was standing therein front of me,” says Joel Camacho,a former student of Sachtjen’s. “InLA everything is covered withconcrete. I was speechless. The treesare so gentle, but they are also sostrong. They are a great example ofresilience,” he adds.

“The Sequoia for Youth Program isall about drawing connections,” saysEllen Sachtjen. Connections can bemade between inner-city studentsand the natural world, and betweeneffort and outcome. And makingconnections to the broader worldhas helped Sachtjen’s students doexceedingly well in school andbeyond. Camacho, for instance, nowa high school junior in Los Angeles,

is planning to attend Columbia University in New Yorkafter finishing high school at the end of next year.

SPOTLIGHT ON LEAGUE EDUCATION GRANTEE: SEQUOIA YOUTH

South Central LA Youngsters See Redwoods for Very First Time

Students at General Sherman Giant SequoiaPhoto by Ellen Sachtjen

Mendocino CountyConservation EasementPhoto by James Bernard,Mendocino Land Trust

Noel Kirshenbaum: A Lifetime of Commitment

Noel Kirshenbaum remembers his first trip with his family in 1946 to the redwood forests.Founders Grove made a vivid impression on him, as did the information he learned about Save-the-Redwoods League. Inspired, young Noel sent his allowance to the League – and he has repeated his giving ever since.

“The redwoods are unique. Who doesn’t love their aroma and beauty?” he asks.

Noel’s career as a mining industry metallurgist made him aware of society’s impact on theenvironment. He makes an analogy between the loss of old-growth forests and the depletion ofhigh grade mineral resources. Noel created a charitable remainder trust to benefit the League.

“I made this gift in the spirit of enlightened self-interest. Financially, this deferred gift serves me well.” Noel isdiscussing ways to memorialize his late wife who was also keenly fond of the redwoods. To be more engaged, Noel now belongs to both the Redwood Legacy Circle and the Leadership Society.

“I believe in preserving redwoods. My gifts for their protection now and in the future give me great satisfaction,”summarizes Noel.

For more information about planned giving or the Redwood Legacy Circle contact Suzanne Ritchie at The League toll free, 888-836-0005.

Noel KirshenbaumPhoto provided byNoel Kirshenbaum

Lacks Creek Purchase Ensures Safety of Redwoods in National ParkThis project protects nearly 4,500 acres of land in thewatershed of this important tributary of RedwoodNational and State Parks’ Redwood Creek (see feature article).

League Enables Collaborative Purchase of Ridgewood RanchA small spectacular stand of old growth redwoodsand mature second growth redwood forest are nowpermanently protected on the historic RidgewoodRanch, near Willits, through collaboration with thelandowner and the local Mendocino Land Trust.

Map by GreenInfo Network www.greeninfo.org

Highlights of Recent LeagueAcquisition Activity

King Range AcquisitionProtects Salmon HabitatPurchase of 593 acres in thesalmon rich watershed of the MillCreek at the mouth of the MattoleRiver will protect a stand of ancientDouglas-firs amplifying the benefitsfor wildlife that depends on old-forest habitats and extending theprotected area encompassed by theBLM’s King Range NationalConservation Area. The KingRange is the largest unroadedcoastal area in the lower 48 statesand one of the anchors of theLeague’s Corridor from theRedwoods to the Sea project.

Mouth of MattolePhoto courtesy of Bureau of Land Management

To receive our Bulletin via email, send your email address to bulletin@savetheredwoods.org

Save-the-Redwoods League 114 Sansome Street • Room 1200 • San Francisco • CA • 94104(415) 362-2352 voice • (415) 362-7017 fax • www.savetheredwoods.org

9 PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER

Groves Dedicated in 2004 and 2005As of June 15, 2005

Del Norte State Park:The Peter D. Dickinson Memorial Grove

Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park:Max and Margaret LichenheimGroveMay Cole Titus and Leo MartinTitus Memorial Grove

The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park:The Robert E. Peck FamilyMemorial Grove

Humboldt Redwoods State Park:Samuel Baumann Family GroveKimberley Joan CulpepperMemorial Grove

Mill Creek Redwoods:Jerome and Sylvia Cherin Grove

Navarro River Redwoods State Park:Charmin and David Knock Grove

Portola Redwoods State Park:Captain & Mrs. H. NordmarkWilliams Grove

Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park:Lothar Kolbig GroveKarl W. Weber Family Grove

Purisima Creek RedwoodsMemorial Groves:Matthew C. Meadows MemorialGrove

Redwood National and State Parks:Richard J. Mazurek, M.D. Grove

Wilder Ranch State Park:David W. Bareis Family GroveRuth and Spencer Overholser GroveGary Marlow Simmons GroveFrederic Henry Willey MemorialGrove

Grove of Tall Trees Photo by Bob Wick, Bureau of Land Management

Redwood Honor andMemorial GiftsGifts to the honor or memory of a friend or loved ones can be made to Save-the-Redwoods League, providing a thoughtful and unique tribute for familyand friends. When you make a tribute gift of $50 or more, the League sendsan attractive acknowledgement card of a beautiful redwood forest scene to theindividual or family that is honored. Tribute gifts support the League’s effortsto protect and restore redwood forests throughout California.

You may also designate tribute or memorial gifts to our reforestation program.For each $50 or greater gift to the tree planting program, a redwood saplingwill be planted as part of the California State Park’s reforestation program.

Each year, hundreds of redwood saplings are propagated from seed at a nurseryfunded in part by honor and memorial gifts from people all across the country.Once the seedlings are two years old, they are planted in redwood forests inneed of reforestation. The League works closely with the state parks staff toensure the viability of the parks.

To make a tribute gift, please call the League’s membership staff at 415-362-2352 or email us at membership@savetheredwoods.org.

Honor and memorial gifts may also be made online at our website,www.savetheredwoods.org