I got my hands on a number of these seeds as a curiosity. From googling, I
have found that they have very low viability, so I would like to maximise my
chances of getting as many as possible to sprout.

I soaked them in water for 24 hours, then I placed them in a folded wet
paper kitchen towel (think Bounty) and then placed them in a ziplock bag in
the fridge for stratification.

How wet do I need to keep the paper towel? Currently it has as much water as
it is possible to hold, and drips when held up. Should I squeeze out some of
this water so it is just moist? I don't want the seeds to rot or anything...

On Sunday, March 25, 2012 8:47:12 PM UTC-4, Jake wrote:
I got my hands on a number of these seeds as a curiosity. From googling, I
have found that they have very low viability, so I would like to maximise my
chances of getting as many as possible to sprout.

If you Google on Sequoia sempervirens germination, you will find several entries that might be useful.
Iris

no you don't have to pretreat them but if you want you can soak them in water for 24 hours to speed up germination. i tried this earlier this year and all of my coast redwood (sequoia sempervirens) got killed by the damping off disease. so you are better off by getting some kind of soiless seed starter. the best way to to sow these seeds is to sprinkle them evenly on the soiless starter. and then lightly sprinkle a layer of the soiless mixture over the seeds. make sure that you don't cover them too deeply. only cover them to about 1/3 of their width witch means it is best to just "barely" cover them up. i don't know if yours are coast redwoods or not but if the are you should see them pop through in about 2 weeks