Among the Redwoods

In 1850, two million acres of the ancient giants towered along the Pacific coast.  Today, less than five percent of those old-growth forests remain.

In the 1990s, redwood country was a war zone, as environmentalists chained themselves to treetops to battle logging companies.

Now, there’s a kind of truce, and a new hope that maybe the forests can come back.

This Hour, On Point:  We talk with Mike Fay, who’s just hiked for National Geographic from Big Sur to Oregon, in the land of the redwoods.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.Guests:

Joining us from Ketchikan, AK, is Mike Fay, National Geographic Explorer-In-Residence and conservationist at the Wildlife Conservation Society. In fall 2007, he started on an 11-month, 1800-mile walk from Big Sur to Oregon, the entire range of the coast redwood tree. You can read his essay about redwoods here.

Joining us from Wilmington, NC, is Joel Bourne, contributing writer to National Geographic. His cover story in the October issue, featuring Mike Fay, is "Redwoods: The Super Trees."  It's on newsstands now.

Joining us from Arcata, CA, is Scott Greacen , executive director of the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC), a nonprofit activism group that's been vocal about protecting redwoods.

Joining us from Berkeley, CA, is Kevin O'Hara, professor of Silviculture at UC Berkeley.

Extras: You can see some amazing photos and a map of Mike's transect, at National Geographic.