The coast redwood, Sequoia sempervirens, today still faces relentless threat from forces that are both natural and man-made.
"What Can I Do?" Individuals can make a difference.

1. practice and promote redwood conservation in your own community

2. use alternative materials for decks, fences and other building projects; there are many attractive options, both natural and synthetic

3. help Sempervirens Fund to buy threatened lands for permanent preservation:
Fire Danger: While young redwoods burn easily, older trees survive because their thick bark serves as a fireproof shell. Redwoods' extremely high water content further reduces the trees' susceptibility to fire. Fire does reduce the number of competing trees such as Douglas firs, permitting almost pure stands of older redwoods to remain.

Other Natural Dangers: Lightning and winter storms can damage redwoods; severe drought conditions can threaten young saplings, although the regular moisture from summer fog alone can usually sustain them. There are few other natural dangers for the redwoods. The high levels of tannic acid in redwood bark and heartwood help the trees to withstand disease and insect attacks that can readily be fatal to other trees. Scientists are currently resarching redwoods' resistance to Phytophthora ramorum, the fungus that causes sudden oak death.

Human Enemies: The greatest threat to redwood trees comes from humans. Historically, logging has been devastating to the redwood forest; more than 95% of the virgin coastal redwood forests have been cut. Logging still remains a constant threat, with timber companies now targeting second-growth trees in lands only just beginning to regain the characteristics of a healthy mature forest.

More recently, urban sprawl and development are threatening our coastal redwoods, particularly in areas close to growing population centers. Redwoods in the Santa Cruz Mountains are especially at risk.
Permanent federal safeguards were enacted in the year 2000 to ban logging of the giant Sequoia redwoods growing high in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains. But there are no comparable federal or state safeguards for the magnificent coast redwoods!
Fact #1:  Every day, loggers are felling coast redwoods, changing forest landscapes, spoiling pristine wildlife habitat, and precluding public recreational access to redwood lands.

Fact #2:  Recent court judgments have actually eased the timber harvest restrictions on loggers in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Fact #3:  Explosive population growth in the greater Bay Area is pushing development into previously untouched redwood lands. Silicon Valley is spreading over the mountain summit, and a new "Silicon Coast" is taking shape. Redwood lands are being replaced by commuter suburbs and remote telecommuter enclaves. Large-scale acreages are being gobbled up for elaborate 'trophy homes'.

Fact #4:  Even in the highly protected Coastal Zone, the California Coastal Commission and the county building departments are approving building permits for new residential construction in our redwood forest lands.
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