The SAAT team made our first stop at Northern California’s Redwoods National Park. After hours of driving the windy roads of beautiful coastal Highway 1, we entered the dark, heavily forested shadows of the Redwoods. We planned this particular National Park as our first stop in an effort to gain a little perspective, and nothing comes second to standing next to a giant Redwood tree when you’re looking to be put in your biological place.
These ancient trees stand hundreds of feet tall and shame the SAA van in terms of width. They stand like guardians of the forest, tall and sturdy with a vast canopy that shelters the nascent undergrowth in a protective nursery. It’s easy to live in our society and to lose touch with nature, but walking amongst the Redwoods puts one in perspective about the length of our lifetimes and the impact of our presence, despite our relatively small size.
Walking amongst these giants, I couldn’t help but ask myself, “How long have these trees stood where they are now? And how long after I’m gone will they remain?”
At the moment, the National Park Service is engaged in an extensive watershed restoration project to increase the lonevity of this ecosystem, restoring the hillsides and stream channels to their natural condition before the construction of logging roads prior to the establishment of the park. This is accomplished by clearing stream channels that are currently choked by road and logging debris, by recontouring hillslopes that are scarred by road systems and reestablishing natural drainage patterns.
Once the watershed is restored, the unnaturally high erosion and sedimentation rates in Redwood Creek will be reduced and a solid foundation will be created for the protection of the reestablished ecosystem for us all to enjoy years in the future.
