Aerial firing in Eden Creek grove
Coffee Pot Fire is at 3,434 acres, 0% contained
Volume 3, Number 6 - Monday, Aug. 26, 2024
Published every Monday and Thursday
Perspective
THE EDEN CREEK GROVE of giant sequoias is on the south side of the East Fork of the Kaweah River and reportedly covers 864 acres, with large trees widely scattered throughout the area. In January 2018, Tyler Williams wrote about visiting the grove in a remote area of Sequoia National Park for American Forests HERE.
Williams wrote:
Eden Creek is one of 67 recognized sequoia groves in the world. This might sound like an especially finite number, and in some respects, it is. Sequoiadendron giganteum only exists within the Sierra Nevada mountain range, and the vast majority of groves — 59 of them — are located in a 70-mile belt directly south of the Kings River Canyon. Globally speaking, this is a small area. Within that belt, however, there are innumerable ridges, canyons, gullies, bowls, slopes and peaks, with sequoia trees lurking throughout…
He also shared how famed naturalist John Muir described his visit to the East Fork of the Kaweah Canyon, also noting that Muir probably didn’t pass through the Eden Creek grove:
“I led and dragged and shoved my patient, much-enduring mule through miles and miles of gardens and brush, fording innumerable streams, crossing savage rock slopes and taluses, scrambling and sliding through gulches and gorges…”
And, Williams noted, his own visit to the Eden Creek grove was prompted in part by a warning:
The grove piqued my interest in Dwight Willard’s “A Guide to the Sequoia Groves of California,” when he mentioned things like “extensive stands of old growth…one of the least visited forest ‘Edens’ in the Sierra.” At the end of his grove synopsis he warns, “the National Park Service does not encourage grove exploration by the average visitor.”
I encourage you to read his entire piece (link above) for American Forests for more descriptions of the Eden Creek grove and photos.
The point of this lengthy introduction is to establish that Eden Creek grove is a place most of us will never visit because of its location in a remote and rugged area of the Sierra Nevada. The grove is within the John Krebs Wilderness, administered by the National Park Service, and also is among giant sequoia groves threatened by the Coffee Pot Fire.
Over the weekend, Sequoia National Forest responded to my request for more information about aerial firing intended to protect the grove.
Sintia C. Kawasaki-Yee, chief of communications and management support for Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, told me that “A limited aerial firing was done using plastic sphere dispenser operations from a helicopter.
“This type of operation uses the least amount of fire compared to other treatments and is the only method available given the remoteness of the Eden grove,” she continued in an email yesterday.
Kawasaki-Yee added that the agency does not believe the aerial firing ignited any tree crowns in the Eden Creek grove.
As reported in earlier newsletters, the Coffee Pot Fire was started by lightning on Monday, Aug. 3. Officials are prioritizing firefighter safety, life, property and then natural resources (including giant sequoias). In a community meeting in Three Rivers on Aug. 18 (reported HERE), officials said the fire will continue to grow.
Another community meeting is set for 6 p.m. tonight at the Three Rivers Memorial Building, 43490 Sierra Drive, Three Rivers. The meeting can also be watched live on the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks Facebook page @SequoiaKingsNPS or YouTube @sequoiaandkingscanyonnps5018.
Kawasaki-Yee told me that fire is currently in a few different sequoia groves. “In BLM jurisdiction, we have Coffeepot Grove and Salt Creek Ridge Grove, and in NPS jurisdiction, we have Coffeepot Grove and Surprise Grove,” she said.
Here’s more from her email:
Giant sequoias are incredibly well-adapted to fire but cannot survive if they suffer extensive crown damage. We have seen this kind of crown damage kill giant sequoias in six severe wildfires since 2015 (the Pier, Railroad, Rough, Castle, Windy and KNP fires). Extreme heat or crown fire can occur if fire moves rapidly upslope under weather conditions and fuel loads that support high intensity fire. One way to prevent the potential for high intensity fire is to use the type of fire that sequoias are adapted to low to moderate intensity fire that burns through woody debris on the forest floor but leaves most trees intact. Intentionally igniting fire from above the grove and allowing it to move downslope into the grove (backing fire), particularly under these milder weather conditions, will result in lower intensity fire, instead of coming upslope from below, or burning later under hotter and drier conditions. This technique has been used by fire managers in wildfires and prescribed fires for decades and has been shown to be very effective at reducing fire intensity and resulting fire severity.
As reported Thursday (HERE), Cal Fire’s Tulare Unit’s Strike Team 9419G cleared brush around a giant sequoia tree in one of the groves threatened by the Coffee Pot Fire. But Kawasaki-Yee said that given “the remoteness and inaccessibility of the area, we did not insert firefighters in the Eden grove. She added that the 2018 Eden Fire removed (a) majority of the dead and down timber litter in the grove.
The earlier lightning-caused fire started on October 4, 2018, as reported HERE by NPS, was in an area with “no direct access, and over a century of no fire history.” Firefighters monitored the fire via air and it had reached about 151 acres by what may have been the final report a month after the fire started.
Here are a couple of videos showing the plastic spheres being dropped over the Eden Creek grove during the Coffee Pot Fire:
As of the latest report this morning, the Coffee Pot Fire was at 3,434 acres with no containment. A total of 1,029 personnel were assigned to the fire.
Here’s this morning’s report from InciWeb:
Yesterday, the Coffee Pot Fire increased by 311 acres. Sixty-three percent of primary and indirect control lines have been completed, including indirect control lines between South Fork Drive and Cinnamon Gap, Cinnamon Gap to the top of Case Mountain, and along South Fork Drive. Water hoses and pumps have been placed along the indirect control lines to assist with future fire operations. Three, 10-person Fire Use Modules are identifying control features, such as rock outcrops and other natural barriers, to contain the east flank of the fire.
Protecting Three Rivers and adjacent areas is the highest priority, as fire crews are continuing to strengthen and widen indirect control lines on the western and southern flanks. This afternoon, fire crews may begin a strategic firing operation to test burning conditions. This operation will be conducted near the fire’s edge, away from the indirect control line. If tests are successful, a strategic firing operation using a backing fire to control the fire’s intensity and rate of spread will be initiated near Case Mountain, continuing down to South Fork Drive. This operation is anticipated to last several weeks.
Yes, in case you wondered, a lot of smoke is likely to continue to come off the fire. You can see a report (HERE) produced yesterday regarding air quality impacts.
Ulterior motive?
On Friday, the Facebook page associated with Sue Cag’s ilovetrees.net website published this post:
NPS has lit Eden Creek sequoia grove on fire. They threw fire from airplanes into the sequoia canopies. The Coffeepot fire was going out but they want to keep it burning. They surely intend to burn the entire wilderness and all sequoias on purpose. It’s all about money.
Ilovetrees.net has beautiful photos of giant sequoias, including many in groves that most people will never see in person. I’ve written before (HERE) about Cag’s and Kim Disco’s work on the website — and criticism of Save the Redwoods League.
I like to review and explore different perspectives, but Cag has never responded to my attempts to communicate. The latest post on Facebook included a note that “I love trees limited who can comment on this post.” If anyone was allowed to comment, those comments were not visible to me. I received an automated response to my Facebook message asking for more information and, specifically, “Why is it all about money?” The response said: “Hello tree friend, we are currently away and may take a while to respond. Thank you for caring about the trees!”
The alarming Facebook post prompted me to reach out to fire managers about the aerial firing, as reported above. I learned a bit, and I hope many readers did, as well.
I’m left to wonder, though — what is the motive of someone who drops a firebomb-like comment on Facebook and refuses engagement about it?
Correction
I had a typo in last Thursday’s edition, which I’ve corrected in the online version. The wildfires that killed many giant sequoias were from 2015 to 2021.
Wildfire, water & weather update
August snow in the High Sierra over the weekend will be followed by a return of thunderstorms later this week, the National Weather Service reports. Currently, there are no Fire Weather Watches or Red Flag Warnings. The best Sierra Nevada weather forecasts are at NWS Hanford, HERE, and NWS Sacramento, HERE.
Did you know you can comment here?
It’s easy to comment on items in this newsletter. Just scroll down, and you’ll find a comment box. You’re invited to join the conversation!
Thanks for reading!
"It's all anbout money" would include engagement farming - even on FB - with hopes of going viral... but they're a dime-a-dozen these days...