Giant sequoias are at the mercy of politics

Lots of talk, little action to address threats to California’s Big Trees

Volume 1, Number 26 - Monday, Jan. 30, 2023

Celebrating six months of publication!

Giant sequoia cones open and drop their seed during fires, which normally leads to the next generation. However, in high-severity fires, the temperatures are so extreme the seeds cook and can’t develop. Seeds that manage to germinate into seedlings in high-severity patches, soon dry up and die from lack of soil moisture and excessive heat. And when high-severity fires kill mature sequoias, the chances for a naturally regenerating forest are lost. — Photo by Jamie Hinrichs, Forest Service

Perspective

IN 2022, THERE WAS A LOT OF TALK about California’s Big Trees — the giant sequoias that grow in the Sierra Nevada.

And my subhead isn’t quite true — as reported at the Dec. 14, 2023, meeting of the Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition, there was some action toward addressing threats to giant sequoias last year in the form of the emergency response by the Forest Service and emergency action by the National Park Service.

Still, according to the coalition, there were restoration treatments in only 36 of approximately 80 groves. And although an estimated $10.5 million of work was done, that amount is a pittance compared to the $180 million spent on suppression of last year’s Mosquito Fire, the largest in the state last year. And it’s hardly anything at all compared to the $4.4 billion the federal government spent to fight fires on public lands throughout the country in 2021 (2022 figures aren’t yet available).

But in terms of long-term support by the federal government, which manages most of the lands on which giant sequoias grow, the politicians talked a lot and did nothing. These included the senators from California (Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla) and the congressman from Bakersfield, Kevin McCarthy, who is now the Speaker of the House.

McCarthy and 49 bipartisan cosponsors failed to push forward HR 8168. Feinstein and Padilla introduced S. 4833 but it didn’t even get a hearing. Neither version of the Save Our Sequoias Act was passed. Either version would have authorized appropriations of $10 million in FY2024, $25 million in FY2025, $30 million each in years 2026 through 2028 and $40 million each in years 2029 through 2033. 

With that kind of funding, a considerable amount of work — scientific and restoration — could be done.

And either version of the SOS Act would have codified the Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition and charged it with a range of official responsibilities. Currently, the coalition is a loosely organized group with no official status.

A summary of efforts of the 117th Congress at govtrack.us shows that a whopping 17,812 pieces of legislation were introduced in the two year period that ended Jan. 3, the most of any year since 1977. Of those, only seven percent — 1,228 — were enacted. 

What this means, I have learned, is that if there is to be a Save Our Sequoias Act, or similar legislation to support efforts to do more than the status quo, a new bill must be introduced.

The photo above is of giant sequoia cones incinerated in one of the fires that burned more than 85 percent of all sequoia grove lands between 2015 and 2021 (compared to only about 25 percent in the previous century). Although fire is important to giant sequoias, these cones were burned by high-severity wildfire and will not grow. They remind me of the hot air of politicians.

Exactly what should be done to ensure that the remaining giant sequoia groves have a chance to live, I can’t tell you. But I don’t think the status quo will do the job.

Calling land — or trees — “protected” because they are moved to the management of the federal government is of little value if the federal government isn’t going to fund their management.

GS Lands Coalition progress

I’m continuing with reports from the Dec. 14, 2023, meeting of the Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition here…

Two lesser known stewards of giant sequoia groves in the Sierra Nevada are the Bureau of Land Management and the University of California, Berkeley. 

As noted in the report presented last December, the BLM manages Case Mountain Extensive Recreation Management Area, which contains six giant sequoia groves totaling about 444 acres. 

The coalition reported that the 2018 Case Mountain Forest Health Improvement Project made significant progress in 2022 on treatments and surveys to prepare for fuels treatments in spring and summer of 2023. Federal and contractor fire crews burned 248 acres of piles, and contractors cleared hazard trees from a mile of project roads. Professionals completed archaeology surveys on 120 acres and botanical surveys on 508 acres. 

Stands were examined in 80 plots throughout the project area to obtain data on forest conditions that will be used to develop a management prescription during overstory thinning. A total of 53 people were involved in the burning, clearing and surveying, at a cost of $161,084. UC Berkeley stewards Whitaker’s Research Forest, located on Redwood Mountain, Whitaker’s Forest is adjacent to Kings Canyon National Park. It is one of five forested areas within California managed by the university.

Whitaker’s Research Forest was affected by the 2021 KNP Complex fires. In 2022, the University treated five acres with hand cutting, piling and burning. Six people completed the work at a cost of $6,000. A re-measurement of all permanent monitoring plots was also completed and the 100-year census of large giant sequoias was also completed. These data will be used to develop new research and demonstration plans. A long-term study of giant sequoia recruitment within experimental canopy gaps was conducted. This study explores the influence of canopy gap size and previous treatments on wildfire interactions with giant sequoia recruitment.

You can read the full coalition report here. (And I hope you’ll scroll to the bottom of this newsletter to read about the new Thursday edition that’s coming soon).

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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!

Giant sequoias in the news

• Tahoe Quarterly published this nice piece about giant sequoia issues last year. I suspect it was written before the Mosquito Fire because the author visited the Placer County Big Trees Grove and didn’t mention the fire that threatened that grove last summer. 

• Also related to the Placer County Big Trees is this video from three months ago that shows the steps the Forest Service took to protect the unique and northernmost giant sequoia grove during that wildfire. And here’s another video from OnSceneTV showing and describing the work firefighters did in that grove. 

• Sequoia National Forest is included in this article about the 10 Most Beautiful Forests in the World.

• The New York Times called the Sierra Club the “giant sequoia of the conversation movement” in this article about ways the club is trying to move past controversy about its mission and history, including whether its founder, John Muir, was biased against people of color. (The link I’ve shared here is another “gift link” that everyone should be able to open to read the article; please let me know if it doesn’t work).

Historic photo of the week

I’m hoping some readers can help me resolve questions about this photo. I first came upon it on Calisphere.org, where it is labeled “Misc. Named Giant Sequoias, two Caterpillar tractors under the Wishbone Tree,” and attributed to the Historic Images Collection of the National Park Service, SEKI.

The linked NPS gallery identifies the location as Balch Park, Tulare County, but does not provide a date or name of the photographer.

Richard and Kathy Ide’s excellent website SequoiaQuest.com has a page for what it calls “tunnel trees” and among the photos is one called the “Wishbone Tree” in the Mountain Home Grove at Balch Park. The shape of the base of the tree does look quite similar to this image (minus the tractors). I believe, but haven’t yet confirmed, that the SequoiaQuest photo was taken before the 2020 Castle Fire.

Another historic photo search engine here has an image showing another view of the tractors going through the tree with a suggestion that the photo was taken in 1929. 

There is also a “Wishbone Tree” in the McIntyre Grove near Camp Nelson. I don’t think that tree is the tree shown here with the tractors. But perhaps readers have other suggestions.

Giant sequoias around the world

Add Romania to the countries around the world where giant sequoias can be found growing. Among places where sequoiadendron giganteum has been planted is the community of Băile Herculane, in the southwest part of the country, not far from its border with Serbia. According to legend, the Roman god Hercules once bathed in the mineral waters of Băile Herculane.

This short video shows one of the young trees there (planted around 1862), estimated at about 100 feet tall, and remarkably its growing in a Mediterranean climate at only about 524 feet elevation. You can see another video and more photos here. A sign near one of the trees identifies it as Wellingtonia gigantea, which is what it was likely called when it was planted, and also as sequoia gigantea.

According to the website sequoia.ro, the oldest giant sequoias in Romania were planted near Măderat village in 1845. Stories vary, but either three or four trees were planted at the time but one was struck and killed by lightning many years ago. An image of one of the trees is used on a wine label and this website shows a big tree growing among vineyards. 

Coming soon, the Thursday edition!

This edition marks a small achievement — six months of publishing the Giant Sequoia News newsletter. And beginning Feb. 20, the newsletter will be expanded to publish two days a week — Monday and Thursday mornings.

With this expansion I’ll introduce additional features — and for the first four weeks the newsletter will continue to be entirely free. Those of you who were among my first subscribers can continue to receive the Monday newsletter with all of the same features at no charge. And if you choose to switch to a paid subscription after the four week trial of the Thursday edition, you’ll have continued access to great additional new features.

All editions will include the Giant Sequoias in the News feature and Wildfire Update (during fire season). The Monday edition will also include the opening feature, Perspective. Mondays will also include Giant Sequoias Around the World and the Historic Photo of the Week.

Additional features in the Thursday edition will include interviews with people who have a connection to giant sequoia land management or research, articles about giant sequoia research and science, updates about the Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition and its members and articles about forest management plans and related efforts.

Subscribers will also be able to read excerpts from a book I’m working on, tentatively titled “The Big Trees and the presidents.” It’s amazing how many of our nation’s leaders have had an impact on the future of giant sequoias.

In case you’re wondering, the subscription price will be $5 per month or $48 per year — but during the free preview period of the twice-a-week expansion (Feb. 20 through March 19), you’ll be offered a discount price of $24 per year. 

Having some paid subscribers will help offset my expenses which include paying for books and subscriptions and occasional travel to cover related events and activities. But I also want to continue to provide the free newsletter with plenty of content for those who don’t want quite as much news and information.

Thanks for reading!