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Hendrik Hinzel

@jh_hinzel

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NYC via Germany.
Love squirrels, otters and raccoons.
Journalist and documentary filmmaker.

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Some more bts footage from our Sequoia and cultural burn reporting trip.

#fire #culturalburn #california #trees #sequoia taken in Giant Sequoia National Monument by @jh_hinzel

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Giant sequoias have survived for thousands of years. They’re adapted to fire, with bark up to two feet thick and cones that only open in heat.
But the fires they evolved with were low-intensity and frequent. Then came the Castle Fire of 2020. It killed up to 10,600 large sequoias in a matter of days. That’s ten to fourteen percent of all large sequoias in existence. And fires are getting worse: the area scorched by high-severity fire in sequoia groves has grown thirty-six times over in the past decade alone. In total, an estimated 17.5 percent of giant sequoias have been killed by wildfire since 1985.

For @sz I wrote about how 150 years of bad forest management and a changing climate created the perfect storm, threatening to wipe out an iconic species that has stood for millennia. And about the people racing to stop it.

@adamperez22 and I got to accompany Jesse Valdez of the North Fork Mono tribe and Ben Blom of the @savetheredwoods who are working to bring western forest science and thousands of years of indigenous knowledge together. We also got to meet Ron Goode, a tribal elder who spent decades fighting the state of California and the federal government to make cultural burns legal again.

We toured Alder Creek Grove in the Sierra Nevada together, attended a cultural burn, and witnessed how a charred landscape is slowly coming back to life.

Photos by Adam

Drone vids and text by me.

English version in the works.

#sequoias #sierranevada #culturalburning #wildfire #tree taken in Alder Creek, California by @jh_hinzel

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Quick little Spain adventure.

#barcelona #sitges #spain taken in Barcelona, Spain by @jh_hinzel

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Time to bring back single photo posts.

Birthday flowers: @c4mgurl 🌸
📸: @alyza___enriquez taken in Brooklyn, New York by @jh_hinzel

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2 months ago

As New Yorkers like to say: it’s been brick.

#NYC #newyork #cold #snow #winter taken in New York, New York by @jh_hinzel

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One year ago, the Eaton Fire tore through Altadena, killing 19 people and destroying more than 7,000 structures. Those whose homes survived the flames thought they were lucky - until they learned about what was inside.
A year later, families like Adriana Valdez’s still can’t move back.

The toxic dust from burned homes, cars, and electronics has left their houses contaminated with lead, asbestos, and heavy metals. Professional cleaning costs can exceed $125,000. Insurance companies often refuse to cover it.

I spent time with residents and researchers conducting the largest health study ever done after a wildfire: the LA Fire Health Study. It’ll track the health of thousands of Angelinos over the course of ten years.

What researchers are finding could affect millions as these “wildland-urban interface” fires become more common worldwide.
My latest story for @sz (in German).

📸 @cassandragiraldo Thank you for taking these pictures and for showing me your beautiful neighborhood and community.

Drone shots by me. taken in Altadena, CA by @jh_hinzel

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Closed the loop in California.
What served as a departure point last year became the landing spot after a year of wandering the world.
Two months of work, old friends and new perspectives. Thank you Cali for being the perfect bookend. taken in California by @jh_hinzel

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Anyway, I’m back in the lower 48.

📸 @adamperez22 taken in California by @jh_hinzel

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Got to witness a totem pole raising ceremony!

It was the first time in 38 years that the local Tlingit and Haida raised a new totem pole in Wrangell. (They actually raised five, but the Kadashan Pole was the only one raised in a traditional manner). The four-day celebration, organized by the Wrangell Cooperative Association, was all about cultural resurgence and honoring Tlingit and Haida traditions. It’s been pretty cool and insightful spending time in a town with such a strong indigenous presence and I learned a ton about Tlingit customs and culture over the summer.

At one point, the crowd was asked to help lift the pole because it was so heavy. I got pulled in to help as well. Feeling the weight of the pole (I mean, it’s essentially a tree) and the strength of everyone working together was quite an experience.

The Kadashan totem pole commemorates marriages between the Haida and Tlingit and is inspired by a staff given to Chief Kadashan to celebrate these alliances (you can see the staff at second 39 and 52). The current pole is a replica of a design originating in the early 19th century. It serves as a symbol of Tlingit and Haida cultural ties and commemorates Kadashan’s role as a historian, storyteller, and peacemaker.

#alaska #totempole #tlingit taken in Wrangell, Alaska by @jh_hinzel

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A summer of early mornings on the water in Alaska

#alaska #boatlife #ocean #sunrise #goldenhour taken in Wrangell, Alaska by @jh_hinzel

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My remote Alaska island home from above.

#alaska #drone #outside #island #mountains taken in Wrangell, Alaska by @jh_hinzel

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Got to hang out with the bears of Anan Creek.
I saw a total of 17 bears within five hours, all feasting on salmon.

Anan is one of the few places where you can see black and brown bears together. Usually they don’t get along. Sadly, today there was no brown bear. But I’ll go again a couple more times the next few weeks, so fingers crossed.

#Alaska #nature #bears #wildlife taken in Anan Bear and Wildlife Observatory by @jh_hinzel

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