Rangers seek suspects after old-growth redwood theft near Weott

Rangers with Humboldt Redwoods State Park asked the public for help identifying two suspects tied to the theft of old-growth redwood along Mattole Road north of Weott. State Parks said remote surveillance captured the men and that anyone with information should call the park crime tip line at (707) 946-1816.

Investigators described the suspects as two white male adults and said they may have used a 1994-2002 Dodge Ram extended-cab pickup truck with two-tone paint, a large dent on the rear passenger-side fender, and possibly decorative Ram-logo covers on the taillights. Rangers said a roughly 50-foot section of a large old-growth redwood log was cut, with parts stolen and then split into approximately three-foot sections to make shake bolts.

The damage went beyond the wood taken. California State Parks said the vehicle was driven off-road to reach the log, leaving deep ruts and significant damage to the forest floor. The agency said the log would have returned “hundreds of years of crucial nutrients” to the forest as it decayed naturally, underscoring how much is lost when old-growth timber is pulled from the ecosystem.

The theft also fits a pattern park staff have already been watching. Over the past six months, rangers made four arrests related to old-growth redwood theft inside Humboldt Redwoods State Park, a sign that the crime has become a recurring enforcement problem rather than a one-time incident. The park spans one of the most iconic forest landscapes in California, and the suspected log theft lands in a place already known for its ecological importance and for the challenge of policing long, remote road edges.

That importance stretches well beyond Humboldt County. Redwood National and State Parks protect 45% of California’s remaining old-growth redwoods, and the National Park Service says 96% of the original old-growth coast redwood forest has already been logged. Some coast redwoods can live as long as 2,000 years, with an average age of 500 to 700 years.

A peer-reviewed study has described Humboldt Redwoods State Park as home to the largest contiguous old-growth redwood forest on Earth, while California State Parks has called Redwood National and State Parks a World Heritage Site and International Biosphere Reserve. In nearby Lower Redway, county officials recently required a special permit and public hearing before a 252-foot old-growth redwood could be removed, a reminder of how closely Humboldt residents are watching every loss from the region’s remaining giants.