How can we value giant sequoias?
Iconic trees are a worthy bellwether for well-being of California
Volume 1, Number 7 - Monday, Sept. 19, 2022
This map shows how close the 70,000-plus acre Mosquito Fire had come to the Placer County Big Tree grove of giant sequoias (upper right hand corner) by early Monday morning, Sept. 19. The distance was reported to be about two miles. — Google maps
Perspective
AS I’VE REPORTED HERE BEFORE, some people believe that emergency work the Forest Service has been doing in giant sequoia groves is reckless and will harm the trees and the forest where they grow.
But by my reckoning, far more people support the work underway to reduce vegetation and hopefully improve the chances of giant sequoia survival in the event of extreme wildfire.
Last week, I noted the concerns expressed by a plant biologist at the University of California, Davis, who used social media to spread the word about the imperiled Placer County Big Tree Grove. At the time, the Mosquito Fire was four to five miles away from the grove — which happens to be one of the smallest groves and also the most northern grove. And, as Zane Moore shared, the trees are genetically unique.
This morning, the fire is nearly twice the size it was a week ago, but firefighters have been helped by the weather and tremendous efforts have been made to protect the grove.
On Saturday, a Forest Service spokesperson told me that crews have been working to protect the Placer County Big Trees Grove by removing additional fuels and staging resources including crew and equipment to take defensive actions if needed. The grove was among resources considered high priority for protection.
She said ladder fuels and dead and down material have been removed around all sequoias and additional fuels reduction work has been performed in the four acres surrounding the grove. Crews were working to expand this area and remove additional fuels to create a larger buffer, and fire hose has been laid around the four-acre burn area. The fuels reduction efforts were taken in an effort to keep the fire on the ground if it does move through the grove.
Fire is a natural part of the Sierra Nevada and actually beneficial in giant sequoia groves — unless it’s high-severity wildfire. The efforts taken by Tahoe National Forest to protect the Placer County Big Tree Grove was in addition to work in recent years that is similar to the emergency work underway in 11 groves on Sierra and Sequoia national forests — pulling duff away from the base of monarch trees and removing ladder fuels that could carry fire into the tops of giant sequoias.
“What is the value of a single giant sequoia?” asked Teresa Benson, forest supervisor for the Sequoia National Forest in August, after about a month’s work in groves on that national forest. She said the agency had spent approximately $1,000,000 to make 345 of the largest trees in the world safer by completing work around them.
“That is $2,898 per tree to make 345 monarch giant sequoia trees more resilient to wildfire in less than a month,” Benson said, adding, “it is well worth the expense and effort to sustain the giant sequoias.” By Sept. 10, the Forest Service reported that 1,213 giant sequoias have been protected in six groves covering 404 acres — and the work continues.
At a media event Aug. 12, Benson noted that work beyond the emergency action will be needed to restore what might be considered a natural fire cycle to the groves.
The need for this work was known long before Giant Sequoia National Monument was established in 2000 and similar work was pioneered in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. But the shocking loss of some 20 percent of monarch giant sequoias in wildfires since 2015 has brought the matter to public attention.
Photos of the General Sherman Tree at Sequoia National Park wrapped in a fire-retardant blanket were published around the world. Raging wildfires and iconic trees always make the news. But the drudgery of work in the woods doesn’t receive much attention.
Drought, insects and high-severity wildfires have left the forests of the Sierra Nevada in terrible shape. As I watched reports this last week showing the Mosquito Fire moving closer to the Placer Big Trees grove I realized how quickly the trees there could literally go up in smoke. At the same time, I knew that people had lost homes and businesses and were displaced as firefighters risked their lives to try to contain and put out the fire.
Giant sequoias are iconic — but they’re also part of the Sierra Nevada. And I think they are a worthy bellwether, in large part because the health of the Sierra Nevada is important to the well-being of all Californians.
From that perspective — in addition to the fact that they are essentially irreplaceable — I think the value of giant sequoias is inestimable.
The week in wildfires
The big wildfire news this last week continued to be the Mosquito Fire — largest in California and at 76,290 acres as of this morning with 39 percent containment. Fortunately, cooler weather and some rain has given firefighters some help.
A group of small wildfires in Yosemite called the Yosemite September Lightning fires were reported to have been about a quarter acre or less each and either contained or suppressed with no growth noted as of Sept. 16.
Also in Yosemite, the lightning-caused Red and Rodgers fires have been managed together, with the Red at 8,364 acres and Rodgers at 2,785 acres as of Sept. 16. The fires are being watched but not suppressed and with cooler weather and rain there may be no further reports.
The lightning-caused Summit Fire that began Aug. 3 in southern Sequoia National Forest was at 673 acres with 10 percent containment as of Sept. 16. Work to ignite low intensity backfires along trail systems and in other areas to help contain the fire was paused for several days due to rain and high relative humidity.
Giant sequoias in the news
• California Democratic Senators Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla introduced a Senate version of the Save Our Sequoias Act on Sept. 13, the Porterville Recorder reports. This bill is not the same as the emergency response work currently underway. I’ll report more about this next week.
• Progress with Sequoia National Forest’s emergency response was reported in the Valley Voice.
• A new California-made bourbon whiskey has been named in part for the Grizzly Giant sequoia tree. If only the trees could collect a licensing fee!
• In Michigan, cones and cuttings were taken recently from a giant sequoia planted there around 1949. An organization called Archangel Ancient Tree Archive, which works to propagate from specimens of some of the oldest, largest and most important trees around the world took the cuttings and you can watch video of their work here.
Giant sequoias around the world
I’ve mentioned earlier that giant sequoias were called Wellingtonia in the UK. Now I’ve learned that they’re called Mammoetboom — literally big tree — in Dutch. Here’s a charming video about a giant sequoia growing in a botanical garden in Putten, a town in the coastal area of the Netherlands. The tree is shown next to a photo of a cathedral to illustrate its height.
Want more?
GIANTSEQUOIANEWS.COM is also a website where you can find more information about giant sequoia trees, wildfire, the public land management conundrum and more.
Thanks for reading!