Email from Save the Redwoods League

Old-growth giant sequoia have weathered thousands of years of droughts, fires, floods, and storms to become the majestic, towering trees that inspire us.

But in the last five years, nearly 20% of the remaining old-growth population has been wiped out by unprecedented, high-severity wildfires.

Save Our Sequoia: Give by March 31 →

We're losing these magnificent trees as a result of a deadly combination of conditions:

Higher temperatures and longer droughts due to climate change

			As climate change drives higher temperatures and less predictable rainfall, prolonged periods of hot, dry weather are becoming the new norm for the Sierra Nevada region in both winter and summer. This means, despite the heavy storms this winter, reduced snowpack over time and insufficient water sources for the giant sequoia.

Unnaturally high build-up of fuel (smaller trees and shrubs)

			Decades of near-total fire suppression in the Sierra Nevada has interrupted the natural cycle of low- to moderate fire that kept the rise of small trees and shrubs in check. The forced removal and genocide of Indigenous people, whose land stewardship practices included cultural burning, and the subsequent management played a key part in creating unnaturally dense and vulnerable forests in this region. As this fuel builds up in drier conditions, it creates a tinderbox.

High-severity wildfire

			The fires that have hit the giant sequoia groves in the last few years have been unprecedented, killing so many of the oldest, largest trees—some over 1,000 years old. In earlier times, fires sparked by lightning or other sources would have burned slowly along the ground, helping the giant sequoias release seeds from their cones. But now, the fires are able to climb up into the canopies, killing these trees that were once nearly impervious to fire.

The fight is on for the future of the giant sequoia. Will you join us?

Save the Redwoods League is sounding the alarm in every media outlet we can. We’re putting boots on the ground to treat groves for fire resilience, funding critical research, and planting thousands of seedlings throughout the sequoia groves.

For this work to continue year over year, we need help from supporters like you, Jack.

Support the giant sequoia by donating to the Sequoia Fund before March 31!