January 23, 1997
To protect an old growth forest in Northern California a group who called themselves the Redwood Rabbis assembled between 100 and 250 activists to hold a ceremony for the Jewish New Year of the Trees (Tu BiShvat) at which they wore prayer shawls and someone recited the Kaddish, the Jewish prayer of mourning, in honor of the creatures that had lived in the now destroyed area of forest. The local Sierra Club chapter made a presentation and then the activists walked onto company land and planted the seeds. Two years later, the loggers agreed to preserve a 7,470 acre part of the Headwater Forest and change their practices in other parts of the forests they owned.
