Redwood Trees Insights

I went and sat with the redwoods up the road, listening to them. “We will endure. We are resilient. And so are you.”  Birgit Weskamp

Wildfires are burning in the Santa Cruz mountains. Thousands of acres are charred. Heavy gray smoke hangs over the hills and burns my eyes and nose. I have not been affected by the fires minus air quality but then again I have. I feel my own pain, my sadness because the forest that burns has saved me on many occasions. It is hiking the redwood forest that always brings me solace and peace when I am sad or lost or need love. I even have a special redwood tree that I visit called the Daddy Tree.

I’ve been distraught at the devastation to nature and people. Why do we have such raging fires?  I wonder if there is an answer that shows promise of prevention and restoration for our beautiful planet. And I found one.

From my search I learned that not only is climate change a factor that causes today’s mega-fires, but I also discovered that for decades the U.S. Forest Service employed fire suppression policies that meant put out fires immediately. This practice over time manifested an imbalance in the role fire played for clearing out brush and saplings.

The good news is that for several years land management agencies have been working directly with American Indian tribes like the Karuk in northwestern California to employ control burns. Indigenous peoples lived for thousands of years knowing how to prevent raging fires by setting low-intensity fires to reduce the buildup of fuels-grasses and brush – that cause larger, hotter and more dangerous fires, like the ones that have burned across the West in recent years.

While fires continue to rage in the mountains in northern California, I’m inspired by the hope these collaborations bring. This work is an exciting moment to honor and recognize the spiritual wisdom Native Americans have with the cycles of nature that will help us to reconnect and restore western forests and protect the public from dangerous wildfires.

Intention: Hold promise of resilience for the forest knowing that new life will grow and bring green to where once there was black ash. Fire does not imply death, but rather change. Redwoods have survived fires for thousands of years because they contain tannin in their bark that does not burn easily. They are crafted by nature to survive and so are we.