Outcry saves rare redwood from being chopped down

A rare redwood tree in a small Northern California city will be replanted instead of being sawed down to make way for planned railway tracks.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported Wednesday that the 52-foot-tall chimeric coast redwood in Cotati will be dug up next month.

It’ll be moved about 450 feet near the east platform at Cotati station, where future riders of Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit will have a view of the tree’s gold, white and green hues.

Arborists say the 60-year-old tree is one of only a handful of coast redwoods that have both albino and normal foliage on the same branches.

A proposal by the railroad to chop it down infuriated residents and led to a campaign to save the redwood.