There is evidence that coast redwoods have existed as far back as 65 million years ago. This was the end of the Cretaceous period, the last time that dinosaurs, like Tyrannosaurus rex, Triceratops, and Velociraptor roamed the earth.
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As its nickname suggests, giant or coastal redwoods thrive in the moist, humid climate of the Northern California coast, where marine fog delivers precise conditions necessary for its growth. The fog adds moisture to the soil and helps trap it there by lowering the rate of evaporation.
They represent the original face of nature, embodying a beauty millions of years in the making. These forests store more carbon from the atmosphere than any other forest ecosystem, and they support communities of life found nowhere else on Earth. The redwood forests are the greatest forests on Earth.
Some of the modern-day threats to redwoods include climate change; human land uses not compatible with forest health (such as development and conversion to vineyards); intense fires; people's increasing detachment from nature; illegal marijuana cultivation; and burl poaching.
Visit our restoration webpages to learn more about this exciting work. How many acres of old-growth forest are left? Fewer than 120,000 acres, or 5 percent, of the original redwood forest remains today.
Massive, ancient giant sequoias live in three groves in Yosemite National Park. The most easily accessible of these (spring through fall) is the Mariposa Grove near the park's South Entrance, off of the Wawona Road (Highway 41). Two smaller—and less visited—groves are the Tuolumne and Merced Groves near Crane Flat.