Redwood National Park: Saving the tallest trees on Earth

Discover why scientists are chopping down redwood trees… to save them.

Redwood National and State Parks are home to some of the tallest trees on Earth, coast redwoods. These ancient California forests support hundreds of different species, and store more carbon than any other forest on the planet. But in the last century, 95% of them were cut down by loggers. 

Now, scientists are trying to find ways to bring old growth redwoods back and they've discovered a surprising strategy... cutting them down actually helps them grow.

Chris heads to Redwood National and State Parks to learn about this new restoration effort and why saving the coast redwood trees will help countless other species in and around this national park. Plus Chris gets to climb a redwood, and learns about the relationship the Yurok have with this towering species. 

This season of THE WILD is about the incredible biodiversity in our national parks: from the tallest trees on the planet to the driest deserts and everything in between. And it’s about the people working in and around our national parks to protect the natural world, while we still can. 

This show would not be possible without listener support. You can help us continue to create this special immersive storytelling by donating at kuow.org/donate/thewild. Thank you.

As always, there are some great photographs and clips from our journey through the national parks on Instagram @thewildpod and @chrismorganwildlife.

THE WILD is a production of KUOW, Chris Morgan Wildlife, and the NPR Network. This episode was produced by Lucy Soucek and edited by Jim Gates. The Wild is hosted, produced and written by Chris Morgan. Fact checking by Apryle Craig. Our theme music is by Michael Parker.