I’ve always felt an affinity with trees – hence planting over 90 trees here on the Paso Robles property!
So these two articles moved me, today. Perfect for a Sunday.
First, the article that the redwood forests have reopened in CA. I never understood why these healing places would be closed to being with… but I’m very glad they are opened. And very glad that boardwalks have been added to protect their roots. I mean, honestly, I’d much rather walk up to a tree and touch it. But, with millions of humans visiting each year, I can imagine how invasive that might be for this sacred place.
(For me, one of the saddest parts of selling my Oregon home – and there were many – was that it had 3 redwoods on it. I so loved those trees.)
The second FB article is fascinating to me. I’ll let you decide for yourselves.
But before we continue, please know that this is one of my favorite books, written by a man who was caretaker of a forest for over 20 years.
Author: Peter Wohlleben
Peter Wohlleben spent over twenty years working for the forestry commission in Germany before leaving to put his ideas of ecology into practice. He now runs an environmentally friendly woodland in Germany, where he is working towards the return of primeval forests, as well as caring for both wild and domestic animals.
Wohlleben has been celebrated for his distinctive approach to writing about nature; he brings to life groundbreaking scientific research through his observations of nature and the animals he lives amongst. He is also the author of international bestsellers including The Hidden Life of Trees and The Inner Life of Animals.
HERE WE GO!
For the original article, click here.
Click image to go to original article
Click image to go to original article
Muir Woods National Monument, a venerable 558-acre preserve in Marin County whose towering redwood trees have attracted hikers for more than 100 years, will reopen Monday.
The famed park near Mill Valley, first set aside for protection in 1908 by President Theodore Roosevelt, last year drew 900,000 visitors. It closed March 16 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
As with the reopening of Yosemite National Park two weeks ago, park managers plan to limit crowds to no more than 50% of normal using a reservation system as a way to promote social distancing. Although Yosemite’s day-use reservation system is new, Muir Woods’ isn’t. In 2018, Muir Woods become the first national park unit in the United States to require reservations year-round for all vehicles entering the park as a way to reduce overcrowding on the narrow, winding roads near the park.
“Muir Woods is a special place, unlike any other within the San Francisco Bay Area,” said Laura Joss, superintendent of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which includes Muir Woods. “We are delighted to welcome visitors back.”
The park will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. To make a reservation, go to gomuirwoods.com
National parks officials say that although the visitor center at Muir Woods will continue to be closed, and shuttle bus service to the park via Marin Transit suspended, restrooms, trails, the cafe and gift shop will be open. People who walk or bike into the park do not need reservations.
As part of National Park Service policy, visitors are not required, but are strongly encouraged, to wear face coverings, particularly when they come into contact with people outside their family while at the park. Rangers and other staff will be wearing face coverings.
Muir Woods is the latest prominent redwoods park to reopen in California. In recent weeks, facilities at Big Basin Redwoods state park in Santa Cruz County, Redwood National Park in Humboldt County, and numerous state parks between Santa Cruz and the Oregon border that showcase the primeval trees have reopened. A few popular redwood parks remain closed, including Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park in Monterey County.
Redwoods can live more than 1,000 years, and are the world’s tallest living species, towering at times more than 300 feet high.
“Access to open space and redwoods parks is critical to our resilience and recovery,” said Sam Hodder, president of Save the Redwoods League, an environmental group based in San Francisco. “There is a direct link between access to the outdoors and public health. Now more than ever, with everything our country is going through, we need our protected lands.”
Hodder noted the importance of visitors to act responsibly as parks reopen — picking up their trash, wearing masks in crowds, and following park rules.
“Parks are the only game in town right now,” he said. “No one is getting on planes to travel abroad, no one is sitting in movie theaters or going to the ballpark. The entire pent-up recreational demand of 40 million people in California, they are going to parks. That’s a good thing. Everybody needs access to nature. But it underscores our collective responsibility. We have to follow the rules and be super-conscious of being on our best behavior so these parks can stay open to us.”
As one of the more prominent redwood preserves in California, Muir Woods has played a high-profile role since 1905, when William Kent, a businessman and later congressman, purchased it to prevent the old-growth forests from being logged. Actors Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak visited Muir Woods in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1958 film Vertigo, even though the scene was actually shot in Big Basin Redwoods State Park. In May, 1945, delegates from all over the world who met in San Francisco to draft the United Nations charter paused to visit Muir Woods for a ceremony honoring President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had died a month earlier.
Muir Woods is one of the last areas within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area to reopen. Parking lots at Crissy Field in San Francisco, along with Muir Beach, Stinson Beach, the Marin headlands, the Phleger Estate, the Presidio and other areas are open.
Alcatraz Island and Fort Point, a Civil War-era fort on the southern side of the Golden Gate Bridge, both remain closed. Alcatraz is expected to open later this summer, and Fort Point should reopen in mid-July, said parks spokesman Charles Strickfaden.
For more information go to www.nps.gov/goga
THE 2ND ARTICLE IS FROM FB
Lindsay McKenna
Should you touch or hug a tree? A cautionary tale.
I never touch a tree without it’s permission, first. In Muir Woods, north of San Francisco, CA, there is an incredible ‘temple’ of Redwoods. And there’s a path people hike through the area. In one area the path is a sharp 90 degree turn. And everyone puts their hand on the Redwood that grows at that corner, to make that step up and turn. When I sent to it, I gave the redwood my gift of cornmeal, introduced myself mentally to it, giving my name.
I asked it if wanted to be touched. I got such an angry blast of energy from it, that I was, at first, shocked. Because, in my experience, if you come with heart/good intents, give the gift and ask permission, 90% of the trees love to commune physically with us (such as hand on the bark or a hug).
Once I got past the shock of the anger and outrage of the redwood tree spirit? I ask why it was angry. He said that every person who came past him,put their hand on him and TOOK HER ENERGY FROM HER for themselves. Now, this deserves a serious look. There are people who are needy and will unconsciously TAKE YOUR ENERGY from you whether they touch you physically or not. In this case? The tree was being slowly deprived of its energy and was slowly dying because human after human was unknowingly taking from it at that corner. I asked the tree what I could do to help it. She asked for her energy back.
I did a journey for her and all the small bits of energy by the thousands of people who have taken from her, was brought back to her. M guides also created an energy “shield” for the tree so that from that time forward, if people put their hand the shield would protect the Redwood and not allow her energy to be taken. The tree was very happy. So, lesson learned here…ask first. Don’t assume every tree WANTS you to touch it. Always ask first, treat the tree as you would a human, if you want to think of it in this way.
Here’s a photo from Muir Woods. And when my experience with the Redwood happened? The boardwalks were NOT there….now they are and that helps to protect the redwoods from too many human hands on them, but also, not treading the soil around them where their roots are at are also being protected, as well
FEBRUARY BUCKET FUND: Emergency BUCKET FUND for very young and starved tribal colts – FOUND AT A MEAT BUYERS – who need our help! The colt has passed, so sad. But the filly is still fighting. READ STORY HERE: https://www.horseandman.com/?p=59670
To Donate, click here! (Thank you!)
She was down for 8 hours…
One of the reasons that catastrophic wildfires in California, Oregon, and Washington are so damaging is that trees’ subsoil communication and regeneration structures (microbiomes, insect life, etc.) are compromised which may mean that the destroyed forests possibly have a really difficult time repopulating – or may be unable to regrow at all in many areas. Only recently has there been serious research on this issue – and I had to really dig and send email inquiries for a few years to finally start getting some answers that, yes, researchers are getting very worried. Unfortunately, those who deny climate change continue to insist that wildfires are necessary. Of course, those wildfires of the past that formerly cleansed forests were indeed necessary – chimate change deniers missing the point, as usual. The catastrophic levels – frequency and intensity – of today’s climate change wildfires have the clear potential for permanent forest damage. Resorting to traditional (read: tribes!) methods of forest management may help but only if climate change issues are strongly and immediately addressed.
Dawn, you would be saddened and disappointed in the death grip on Oregon’s forests that the timber industry increasingly has. So much worse than in decades past. Including propagandistic broadcast advertising claiming to “care” about forests because the industry players are “replanting millions of trees.” As IF monoculture douglas fir forests are actually healthy except for future lumber harvests. As IF a two-year-old seedling didn’t need decades to mature. And seen in the background of those broadcast propaganda messages? CLEAR CUTS.