For those that don't know, Redwoods in California come in two flavors. Sequoias which are massive and extremely tall trees lie in a narrow elevation band of 5,000 to 7,000 ft in the Sierra Nevadas. This is were Sequoia, Kings Canyon and Yosemite stewards groves of Redwoods. And where the Giant Sequoias get the weather they need to reproduce.
But there is another type of Redwood. I don't know the official name, but we generally refer to them as "Coastal Redwoods". They are smaller trunk, but just as tall.
There is a grove of Redwoods that still stands just outside of San Francisco. But these trees are mainly now confined to the far Northern California coast. These Redwoods were also decimated by logging, even more so than Giant Sequoias, because they were out of sight to most of the public.
Well, after years of trying, a eco nonprofit got the owners of one of the last untouched stands of Redwoods (about 200 acres) to sell. The funds were provided by Pacific Gas and Electric (the NoCal utility) to purchase the land. Sure a green-washing, but one I can get behind.
The land has been transferred to Native American ownership. They were settled on the land originally, before European settlers came (Russian, then British, and then American). They have been excellent stewards of the land north of this, which the nonprofit bought and turned over to them in 1997.
It is a good story you can read here.
It is a great news story as the Redwoods are now protected by the tribes (that do not log them). This also helps to save an ecosystem with a number of endangered species.
One of the species I never heard of is the Marbled Murrelete. This is an odd little seabird that actually lays eggs in a forest. Most use rocky coastal regions to nest. Anyway a picture is below, but I think they are cool looking.
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