Photo: Mike Fay in the Redwood forest  Photograph by Lindsey
Holm  About the Project  National Geographic Explorer-in-
Residence and Wildlife Conservation Society conservationist
Michael Fay turned his attention to a unique North American
ecosystem. On a yearlong, 1,800-mile (2,900-kilometer) hike
through California's redwood forests, Fay collected data and
documented the state of the forest, helping to call attention to
this one-of-a-kind ecosystem. The Redwood Transect was supported
by the National Geographic Society, the Wildlife Conservation
Society, and the Save-the-Redwoods League.  Among the oldest and
tallest trees on Earth, California redwoods often exceed 300
feet (90 meters) in height and can reach diameters of 10 to 20
feet (3 to 6 meters) or more. Some of these trees are more than
1,500 years old.  Following the model of his Megatransect, a
2,000-mile (3,200-kilometer) conservation trek through Africa's
Congo Basin, Fay walked a transect from the southernmost redwood
tree known to exist today to t