We need to do more to rescue the redwoods

Redwoods are also an effective tool in combating climate change because they sequester carbon so successfully: One coast redwood absorbs as much carbon as 250 typical trees. A 2020 study conducted by scientific researchers from Save the Redwoods League and Humboldt State University demonstrated that old-growth coast redwood forests store more carbon than any other type of forest. Without healthy redwoods, the quality of our air and water suffers, and imperiled wildlife lose precious habitat.

Thanks to California’s history of heavy logging, only about 5% of old-growth redwood forests remain today. Logging isn’t the only present-day threat to redwoods: California’s wildfires are becoming faster and more intense, jeopardizing redwoods in the process. With their thick, resilient bark, redwoods are typically able to withstand some burning, but the record-breaking mega-fires of the past few years pose an unprecedented challenge. Climate change and decades of forest mismanagement are catching up with California, and the future of the redwoods hangs in the balance.

We must act urgently and aggressively to preserve the remaining redwoods. California should establish special protections for all its redwoods and ban the harmful logging practice of clear-cutting. According to Save the Redwoods League, only 29% of the entire coast redwood forest, young and old, is protected. This represents a major conservation opportunity for California: placing more of these redwood forests under the protection of parks.

“The ‘wild’ must be kept ‘wild,’” wrote Inger Anderson, executive director of the U.N. Environment Program, in 2020. “It is time to restore our forests, stop deforestation, invest in the management of protected areas, and propel markets for deforestation-free products. ... The better we manage nature, the better we manage human health.”

Through careful, science-based restoration efforts, younger redwood forests that were previously clearcut can become robust old-growth forests in the future. Redwoods provide for us — helping maintain a healthy, stable climate and mitigate the effects of climate change — and right now, we must provide for them.

“If our greatest responsibility is to leave the world better than we found it, then healing the redwood forest represents an opportunity of a lifetime,” said Sam Hodder, president and CEO of Save the Redwoods League, in 2018.

We must put down our axes and prioritize rescuing the redwoods along with all remaining mature old-growth trees. Future generations of Californians deserve to experience the wonder of redwoods and to see their ecosystems thriving. With swift, decisive action, there’s still a chance to save these towering trees.

Caroline Harris is a writer, editor and environmental activist from Northern California. She loves roaming among the redwoods, and once hiked over 100 miles of the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage in Japan.