Colleen is a 34-year-old amateur midwife and mother living in Klamath, California. She longs for another child after suffering a recent string of miscarriages. She serves as a caretaker for her family and neighbors but struggles with the emotional distance growing between her and her husband. Her desire to protect the community's children pushes her to question the safety of local logging practices.

Rich is a 53-year-old high-climber who works for the Sanderson logging company. He comes from a long line of loggers and risks his life daily in the redwood forests to provide for his family. He quietly purchases a plot of land called the 24-7 Ridge, hoping its massive old-growth trees will secure his family's financial future. He faces increasing pressure to support his employer against growing environmental opposition.

Graham, affectionately known as Chub, is Rich and Colleen's young son. He possesses his father's green-blue eyes and a sensitive, empathetic nature. He learns about the local geography through his father's rhymes and tries to support friends who face hostility from the broader community.

Enid is Colleen's younger sister and a mother to a large family. She possesses a pragmatic, sometimes reckless streak that contrasts with Colleen's more cautious nature. She prioritizes her immediate family's survival in the tough logging economy and often turns a blind eye to the questionable actions of her husband's employers.

Eugene is Enid's husband and Rich's brother-in-law. He works as a logger and acts as a bullish enforcer for the Sanderson company. He harbors a volatile temper and a deep resentment for environmental activists interfering with the logging industry, using intimidation to keep dissenters in line.

Daniel is a Yurok man and university researcher who returns to his hometown to care for his ill mother and study the local waterways. He investigates the potential environmental damage caused by toxic herbicide sprays. His presence stirs up hostility among the loggers whose livelihoods depend on the timber industry, reviving old community prejudices against him.

Merle runs day-to-day operations for his family's logging company. He leverages his power over the community's jobs to command loyalty and shut down dissent regarding the company's chemical spraying. He maintains an outwardly friendly demeanor with his workers while ruthlessly protecting his profits and maneuvering to maximize his own financial gain.

Lark is an elderly, retired logger who spends his days carving souvenirs for tourists. He survived a severe workplace injury during his climbing days and carries immense knowledge about the local forests. He views Rich as a surrogate son and offers him both tactical and financial advice.

Carl is a local worker employed by Sanderson to spray herbicides along the logging roads. He defends his job as necessary to provide for his family, despite growing community rumors about the chemicals' safety and his own private misgivings about his wife's tragic pregnancy.

Helen is Carl's Indigenous wife. She endures intense community ostracization and hostility as tensions over the logging industry escalate, bearing the brunt of the town's defensive anger toward anyone questioning the company's spraying practices.

Luke is Carl and Helen's son. He faces severe bullying at school due to his mother's health struggles and his family's difficult social standing in the polarized community.

Joanna is Colleen's neighbor who lives in Colleen's childhood home. She relies on selling farm eggs to make ends meet after her husband falls out of favor with the timber company. She begins noticing alarming changes in her livestock's health and the local water supply following herbicide spraying.

Melody is a young, heavily pregnant woman in the community. She relies on Colleen's amateur midwifery advice to manage her complicated, breech-positioned pregnancy.

Wyatt is Enid and Eugene's son. He mimics his father's aggressive behavior and frequently bullies his younger cousin, engaging in dangerous roughhousing in the local forests.

Don is a responsible foreman at the Sanderson logging company. He oversees the crews in the dangerous redwood harvests and attempts to manage the logistical hurdles when work is shut down.

Gail is the local school secretary. She keeps track of community gossip, shares news about neighborhood tragedies, and occasionally looks out for the local children when their parents are delayed.

Jim is an older local man looking to sell a 720-acre property known as the 24-7 Ridge, home to a massive old-growth redwood. He offers the land to Rich out of respect for Rich's late father.

Marla is Enid and Eugene's teenage daughter. She pursues secretive romantic encounters with a young member of the Sanderson family, leading to complicated family drama.

Alsea is Enid and Eugene's infant daughter. Her slow developmental progress causes quiet concern among older family members and local medical staff.

George is Daniel's aging uncle. He advocates for the traditional Yurok reliance on the local salmon runs, which are threatened by the environmental fallout from the logging operations.