Free Republic

After a devastating conflagration, trees regrow using energy stored long ago ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When lightning ignited fires around California’s Big Basin Redwoods State Park north of Santa Cruz in August 2020, the blaze spread quickly. Redwoods naturally resist burning, but this time flames shot through the canopies of 100-meter-tall trees, incinerating the needles. “It was shocking,” says Drew Peltier, a tree ecophysiologist at Northern Arizona University. “It really seemed like most of the trees were going to die.” Yet many of them lived. In a paper published yesterday in Nature Plants, Peltier and his colleagues help explain why: The charred survivors,...

Official says the fire was likely started by an illegal campsiteA tragic loss in the North Bay, where one of the last remaining old growth redwoods in Marin County was destroyed by a fire this week. The Pioneer Tree inside Samuel P. Taylor State Park was hundreds of years old. Fire officials believe an illegal campsite could be to blame. "It's lost forever," said Marin County Fire Chief Jason Weber. Fire crews were still on scene of a blaze on Friday which destroyed an iconic piece of Samuel P. Taylor State Park, known as the Pioneer Tree. The loss is...

Hiker, 28, is killed when 200-foot redwood falls on top of him on national park dirt trail Subhradeep Dutta, 28, of Edina, Minnesota, was hiking at Muir National Woods Monument north of San Francisco with two other people Tuesday. Five giant redwood trees suddenly fell while the trio were on a marked dirt trail about 4.30pm, including a 200-foot tree that struck Dutta. He was pronounced dead at the scene. A female hiker also was injured by falling debris and treated at a nearby hospital. A second man was not hurt The trees may have fallen due to wet ground...

Subhradeep Dutta, 28, was walking on a trail on Christmas Eve when the tree fell... He was visiting from Edina, Minnesota. Emergency medical services were called at approximately 4:38 p.m. and first responders found Dutta beneath the tree. Dutta suffered “severe traumatic injuries” and was pronounced dead on the scene at 5:01 p.m., according to the sheriff’s office. A forensic postmortem examination is scheduled for Friday to determine the cause and manner of death.

"Keeping Up With the Kardashians" star Khloe Kardashian is apologizing after dropping the R-word in a live Instagram video on Thursday. The new mom of True Thompson did an Instagram live featuring her and her sister Kourtney doing their morning workout with their trainer. In the video, Kardashian becomes frustrated with her older sister who was trying to sync their smartphones but seemed to be having trouble. According to Us Weekly, Kardashian was heard in the video saying to her sister, "Yes, you can, you f–-ing r-----d." And as Kourtney appeared to have more trouble with the devices, True's mom...

The tallest redwood tree in Muir Woods — a giant that was assumed to have sprouted up to 1,500 years ago in the Middle Ages — is a measly 777 years old, a puerile sprig in the hallowed halls of old growth, an analysis of tree-ring data has revealed. The study, by a Humboldt State University scientist, is the first definitive determination of the age of trees in Muir Woods. The findings by Allyson Carroll, a tree-ring specialist, mean that a 249-foot-tall coast redwood known by the lackluster name of Tree 76 sprouted seven centuries later than originally believed, at...

Buried in the details of the deal to close California's $19-billion budget deficit is a roughly $30-million tax break crafted to benefit a company owned by members of one of the state's richest and most politically influential families, according to a legislative analysis obtained by The Times. The provision, which will allow the Humboldt Redwood Co. to deduct $20 million in old losses from future taxes, is also expected to cover penalties and interest for the firm co-owned by three sons of Donald G. Fisher, founder of the Gap and Banana Republic, said company Chairman Sandy Dean. The tax break...

Julia Butterfly Hill climbed down from the tree she named Luna 10 years ago this December. After 738 days, and surviving an El Niño winter on the tip of a redwood, her protest turned Hill into an international symbol for environmental activism. Since then, she's become an inspirational speaker (some 250 events a year), a best-selling author and the co-founder of the Engage Network, a nonprofit that trains small groups of civic leaders to work toward social change. Now the 35-year-old, based in the East Bay for seven years, is taking a step out of the public eye and moving...

Little-used law says that neighbor's solar panels cannot be shaded by treesTalk about a clash of cherished green values. In a case with statewide significance, the Santa Clara County District Attorney's office cited a Sunnyvale couple under a little-known California law because redwood trees in their backyard cast a shadow over their neighbor's solar panels. Richard Treanor and Carolynn Bissett own a Toyota Prius and consider themselves environmentalists. But they refuse to cut down any of the trees behind their house on Benton Street, saying they have done nothing wrong. "We're just living here in peace. We want to be...

REDWOOD NATIONAL PARK, Calif. - Researchers have confirmed that a redwood named Hyperion in a remote Northern California forest is the world's tallest tree. ADVERTISEMENT Steve Sillett, a forestry professor at Humboldt State University, recently climbed Hyperion and measured it at 379.1 feet, one foot taller than previously thought. Hyperion, which grows in Redwood National Park, edged aside the previous record holder, a 370.5-foot redwood called Stratosphere Giant in nearby Humboldt State Park. Researchers had to wait until the end of the endangered marbled murrelet's nesting season to measure Hyperion and confirm its status as the world's tallest living thing....

<p>BOONVILLE -- The blue-collar diners and hippy hangouts of this Mendocino County town have been buzzing for days about a beguiling rumor.</p> <p>According to the buzz, an East Coast conservation outfit was preparing to buy nearly 24,000 acres of neighboring timberland for $18 million. But instead of setting aside the redwoods as a preserve, the group hopes to turn it into a showcase of environmental forestry -- selectively harvesting some trees with the goal of restoring an old-growth forest.</p>

<p>SACRAMENTO (AP) - A drawing showing a Gold Rush miner, a redwood tree and a bear was the most popular design among Californians who participated in an Internet poll on what the state's commemorative quarter should look like.</p> <p>Running a close second was a scene that includes the Golden Gate Bridge, the Hollywood sign, palm trees and redwoods, state librarian Kevin Starr said Tuesday.</p>