Josh Traub is a grandfather who grew up in West Marin surrounded by one of Earth's greatest creations: trees. At age five he recalls his first introduction to what it meant for a tree to belong to a forest community.
As Josh grew from boy to man, he deepened his relationship with the trees of Marin: the old-growth Coastal Redwoods of Roy's Redwoods, the sprawling Valley Oaks of San Geronimo Valley, and the thousands of second-growth Redwoods in Samuel P. Taylor Park. Working his first job on a trail crew at Point Reyes National Seashore, he met ancient California Bay Laurels, sacred Elderberry trees, and streamside Willows that welcomed spawning salmon home.
Josh joined the ranks of tree care professionals, learning to climb 150-foot Blue Gum Eucalyptus with chainsaws and arm-thick ropes—dangerous work that sometimes claimed lives. He mastered the gentler craft of pruning American Elms along Ross's Shady Lane, only to witness their demise from Dutch Elm disease. Later, he observed the emergence of Sudden Oak Death threatening California Tan Oaks—possibly another species extinction event.
Transitioning from the woods to farming, Josh raised his two daughters while working an organic farm at the base of Mount Barnabe. He became a school gardener, planting his first tree—a California Buckeye—alongside elementary students. Eventually moving into carpentry to support his growing teenage daughters, Josh discovered an intimate new relationship with trees through wood itself: milling Monterey Cypress, harvesting Bishop Pine logs, building with old-growth timbers that revealed wood's exquisite beauty.
Though carpentry provided good livelihood, Josh carried an unrealized dream that would eventually call him toward his next chapter.
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