Bay Curious Overlogged and Thirsty: Bay Area Redwoods Are Struggling
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Apr 2, 2026 Debra Zierten, educator with Save the Redwoods League who leads student field lessons. Dana Cronin, KQED reporter who reported on redwood ecology and threats. Daniel Potter, science communicator who writes about regional trees. They trace historic logging, explain redwood biology and fog capture, explore fire and drought resilience, and discuss conservation measures and backyard remedies.
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Stumps Told A Local's Story Of Logging
- Christy Dundon recalled showing kids the massive redwood stumps in Redwood Regional Park from past logging.
- She had campers lie beside stumps whose diameters were wider than the kids were tall, making the loss tangible.
Historic Scale Of Old Growth Loss
- Coast redwoods are native to the fog belt from Monterey County to the Oregon border and can live ~2,000 years.
- Before the Gold Rush there were ~1–2 million acres of old-growth redwood; now less than 100,000 acres remain, a >90% loss.
1906 Rebuild Intensified Redwood Logging
- After the 1906 earthquake and fire, rebuilding San Francisco drove massive redwood demand for wood-frame construction.
- Officials even required permits to use non-redwood, creating an order-of-magnitude spike in logging need.
