Authorities say unemployment and drug addiction have spurred an increase in the destructive practice of cutting off the knobby growths at the base of ancient redwood trees to make decorative pieces ...

Wildlife biologist Terry Hines stands last year next to a massive scar on an old growth redwood tree in the Redwood National and State Parks near Klamath, Calif., where poachers have cut off a burl to ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. This May 21, 2013 photo provided by the National Park Service shows wildlife biologist Terry Hines standing next to a massive scar ...

A redwood tree can survive the practice, but the legacy of the organism that could be 1,000 years old is threatened, because the burl is where it sprouts a clone before dying. Sprouting from burls is ...