EXTRA! The 2022 ‘Saving Our Sequoias’ update
Major highlights of a report from the Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition
Extra Edition - Friday, Dec. 16, 2022
Calaveras Big Trees State Park near Arnold, California, was the location for a Dec. 14 meeting of the Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition. — Claudia Elliott
ON MONDAY I SHARED that I would be traveling to Calaveras Big Trees State Park in Northern California on Wednesday to hear reports from members of the Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition on their efforts to better protect giant sequoia groves from the impact of high intensity wildfire and other drought-related impacts.
There was so much information I decided to publish a first-ever “extra” edition of the newsletter to start sharing what I learned.
This edition won’t include some of the regular newsletter features, just the highlights of what was shared at the meeting. Next Monday you’ll receive the newsletter again with regular features and more from the meeting.
What is the Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition?
The coalition is a collaboration of public and non-governmental organizations committed to conservation of giant sequoia grove ecosystems. Members include the Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park, Yosemite National Park, Sequoia National Forest/Giant Sequoia National Monument, Sierra National Forest, Tahoe National Forest, the Bureau of Land Management, the Tule River Tribe, Calaveras Big Trees State Park, the University of California, Berkeley, and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).
All of the members have one or more giant sequoia groves on land they manage, as does Save The Redwoods League, a special coalition affiliate.
Other affiliate members are the Sequoia Parks Conservancy, Giant Sequoia National Monument Association, Ancient Forest Society, Yosemite Conservancy, U.S. Geological Survey (Western Ecological Research Center), Stanislaus National Forest, American Forests and the Southern Sierra Conservancy.
The groups organized in 2021 to sound the alarm about the shocking loss of giant sequoias to high intensity wildfire and other drought-related hazards.
It bears repeating here:
• More than 85 percent of all giant sequoia grove acreage across the Sierra Nevada burned in wildfires between 2015 and 2021 — compared to only about 25 percent in the preceding century.
• Based on aerial surveys from a helicopter, fire severity estimates and sequoia grove maps, an estimated 13 to 19 percent of the world’s large sequoias are estimated to have died in three major fires in recent years (2020 Castle and 2021 KNP Complex and Windy fires).
• Prior to 2014, scientists recorded only subtle, long-term changes in Sierra Nevada forest health. During and after the drought, large abrupt and novel changes to the forests were observed, including giant sequoia groves. Unprecedented numbers of large sequoias died in severe wildfires, from bark beetle attacks and from acute foliate dieback as a short-term adaptation to drought.
Progress report
Collectively, according to a report prepared for the Dec. 14 event, coalition members conducted restoration treatments — including thinning and prescribed fires — on 4,257 of 26,000 acres in 36 of approximately 80 giant sequoia groves.
Although much remains to be done, this was more than twice the 2,000 acres set as a goal for the year.
Fuel was reduced around more than 4,000 giant sequoia trees and coalition members planted more than 248,000 native conifers, including giant sequoias.
In addition to the work in the field, the coalition reported that numerous scientific studies were advanced this year and public outreach and education efforts resulted in placement of more than 10,000 stories about giant sequoia issues in the media.
The work cost about $10.5 million, according to the report, and involved 824 people.
You can read the entire progress report here.
Looking forward
About 100 people were gathered at the event and the mood was optimistic. Last year’s relatively light fire season in the Sierra Nevada was blessedly a relief from the pounding of recent years.
In future editions I’ll report specifics from the report and ongoing efforts. For now, I will wrap up by sharing a statement from Sam Hodder, president and CEO of Save The Redwoods League:
“One hundred human generations can come and go in the lifetime of a giant sequoia.
“This forest ecosystem has been here on the west slopes of the Sierra Nevada — and only here — for millions of years, and we lost nearly 20 percent in two years of unprecedented, intense wildfires. After millions of years of stability, the trajectory of this extraordinary forest has taken a drastic and devastating turn – on our watch. And how the giant sequoia emerges from this existential threat will be determined by the choices we make now. We, collectively, have to take responsibility for what happens next.
“Together, the Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition has sounded the alarm. We are rallying the science community to prioritize and guide timely action. We are actively treating groves, already reducing fuel loads on more than 4,000 acres. We are shouting from the rooftops to get this crisis in every news outlet and on every kitchen table in the country.
“As we advance the work of this impressive coalition and strive to meet our collective responsibility, we are determined to ensure that these irreplaceable natural treasures are better prepared for the forest of our new reality. And our work is just beginning.
“We again urge elected officials and policymakers to take action to provide funding and personnel, enact policy changes, and help us reduce fuels now so we can address the problem at scale.”
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!