‘Redwoods Rising Student Apprentices Help Restore Redwood National and State Parks,’ Says Save the Redwoods League

This is a press release from the Save the Redwoods League:

San Francisco, Calif. — Eighteen students from Humboldt State University (HSU) are participating in a collaborative restoration project known as Redwoods Rising, gaining valuable knowledge and work experience studying the historically logged coast redwood forests in Redwood National and State Parks this summer. HSU and Save the Redwoods League hired these college students to augment their classroom instruction and help them gain real-world experience with lasting benefits for the coast redwood forest. The apprentices are working alongside forestry professionals at Save the Redwoods League, the National Park Service, and California State Parks.

Redwoods Rising, a multi-year collaboration between Save the Redwoods League, the National Park Service, and California State Parks, was established in April 2018 to restore more than 70,000 acres of historically logged coast redwood forest in Redwood National and State Parks.

“Restoring the redwood forest within these incredible parks will take years, but we can start today,” said Richard Campbell, director of restoration for Save the Redwoods League. “The Redwoods Rising apprentice program and the support provided by the HSU students and faculty are critical to achieving our restoration goals while offering a strong, hands-on learning experience.”

This is the second year that the Redwoods Rising staff has worked with HSU to train the next generation of conservation leaders while they study and restore the forest. In 2018, Save the Redwoods League worked with HSU faculty to hire eight summer apprentices to assist parks staff in collecting forestry and botany data. For 2019, they have expanded the program and hired 18 students. They are collecting data and quantifying baseline conditions of stand characteristics; growth rates of the trees; the diversity and abundance of plants and wildlife; and conditions of the waterways, roads, and infrastructure in the young, regrowing forested areas.

“This is a tremendous learning opportunity for our students, and we’re thrilled to be able to expand the program this summer,” said Dr. Erin Kelly, Associate Professor in Forestry at Humboldt State University and Councilor for Save the Redwoods League. “The Redwoods Rising apprentices will work on projects with real, lasting ecological benefits for the redwood region, and they’ll acquire skills they can use throughout their careers.”

REDWOODS RISING APPRENTICES FROM HUMBOLDT STATE UNIVERSITY

Forestry Apprentices:

• Ryann Howard.  Major: Forestry – Restoration
• Dillon Martin.  Major: Forestry – Restoration
• Cameron Miller.  Major: Forestry
• Caleb Van Rossum. Major: Forestry – Hydrology

Rare Plant Apprentices:

• Caitlyn Allchin. Major: Botany
• Macy Budesilich.  Major: Botany
• Skylr Lopez. Major: Wildlife Biology
• Julia Martinez. Major: Botany

 

Exotics Management Apprentices:

• Judson Fisher  Major: Forestry
• Christopher Villarruel  Major: Forestry – Hydrology

 

Wildlife Apprentices:

• Christopher Collier. Major: Wildlife Biology – Conservation Biology/Applied Vertebrate Ecology
• Ryan Thompson. Major: Wildlife Biology

 

Watershed Rehabilitation Apprentices:

• Anton Bokisch     Major: Environmental Science & Management and Ecological Restoration
• Steven Hopper  Major: Environmental Resources Engineering
• Haley Isaacson. Major: Environmental Resources Engineering
• Samantha Bowman Pincus  Major: Forestry – Wildland Fire Management

 

Hydrology Apprentices:

• Brett Crandall  Major: Forestry – Hydrology
• Sarah McGee  Major: Forestry – Soils

For more information about Redwoods Rising and the apprentice program or to schedule an interview, contact Jennifer Benito-Kowalski at (415) 820-5814 or [email protected].