McKinleyville man arrested in redwood theft from Humboldt Redwoods State Park

California State Parks arrested 63-year-old Christopher David Guffie of McKinleyville on June 10 in connection with the theft of old-growth redwood material from Humboldt Redwoods State Park, booking him into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on multiple felony charges, including grand theft. The case grew out of an investigation into the removal of an old-growth log from a site along Mattole Road north of Weott, where park officials said remote surveillance captured two suspects taking parts from a downed tree.

State Parks said the estimated value of the public resources taken from the park exceeds $32,000. The agency also said the loss goes beyond a dollar figure: removing an old-growth log keeps crucial nutrients from returning to the forest floor, interrupting a process that would normally replenish the ecosystem over hundreds of years. In Humboldt County, where redwoods are tied to the region’s identity, tourism and public lands, the theft cuts into a resource seen as both irreplaceable and highly vulnerable.

Investigators have identified a second suspect and have already submitted an arrest warrant through the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office, while continuing to look for that person. Earlier State Parks alerts described the suspects as white male adults and said the vehicle linked to the theft was a Dodge Ram pickup truck, likely from the 1994-2002 model years, extended cab, two-tone paint, with a large dent on the rear passenger-side fender. The park had asked the public for help identifying the pair after remote surveillance captured them in the act.

State Parks said the latest arrest fits a wider pattern rather than a single isolated case. Over the past six months, rangers have made four arrests related to old-growth redwood theft in Humboldt Redwoods State Park, a place that contains the largest remaining contiguous old-growth redwood forest in the world and includes the Avenue of the Giants. That scale helps explain why park officials are treating the theft as a serious enforcement issue, not just a property crime, as they continue to patrol remote parklands and pursue prosecution in hopes of deterring further poaching.