Loved to death: Sequoia national monument faces wildfires and logging

As the Trump administration continues to roll back protections on public lands, timber industry advocates are pushing to reduce federal defenses for California's giant trees

For the largest living things standing on the planet, California's giant sequoias have an unassuming, almost gentle aura to them. The recognizable cinnamon-colored bark is soft and fibrous. Its cones are modest. When cut down, the trees tend to shatter and won't produce reliably sturdy timber.

These majestic plants have a lineage stretching back to the Jurassic period, but fears over their future have prompted a somewhat counterintuitive plan presented to the Trump administration - in order to save the giant sequoias, some say, their surrounding area must be stripped of protected status.