‘How many other trees can attract a crowd?'

Charismatic megaflora and fire season winding down (we hope)

Volume 1, Number 10 - Monday, Oct. 10, 2022

Visitors climb onto the base of a giant sequoia tree at the Trail of 100 Giants in Giant Sequoia National Monument in July 2022. — Claudia Elliott

Perspective

HERE’S A TERM to add to your vocabulary this week — charismatic megaflora. That’s the term scientists use to describe really large plant life that inspires and attracts attention. Certainly giant sequoia trees come to mind.

New York Times Pulitzer-winning reporter John Branch included giant sequoia trees in an article published in 2020 to chronicle the loss of the big trees as well as coastal redwoods and Joshua trees to wildfire. His report is worth a read even two years later. He described the allure of these three iconic species as sheer audacity.

“They are never found together,” Branch wrote. “Yet they share an uncommon ability to silently stand there and elicit a reaction — gasps, giggles, photographs, memories. How many other trees can attract a crowd?”

Of the many values of these three species, I think, is their iconic status and ability to attract attention to issues that should concern all of us. Unrelated to my giant sequoia efforts, I wrote about the western Joshua tree this past week and although they are succulents, not actual trees, they represent Mojave Desert issues as well the giant sequoias represent the Sierra Nevada.

Not that it’s needed, but I found more evidence of the stature of iconic giant sequoias during the Sept. 29 hearing of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) spoke reverently about the great trees.

“This fire that happened in the Giant Sequoias, if that didn't break a person's heart, they are a very unfeeling person,” Risch said. “The Giant Sequoias … are known all over the world. The only more famous patch is the Cedars of Lebanon. And the only reason they're famous is because they're included in the Bible. Had the authors of the Bible known about the Sequoias they'd have included, at least a head nod to them, also.”

As I reported last week, the committee was considering the Senate version of the Save Our Sequoias Act. 

“When we can’t even protect a national heritage like the Giant Sequoias, it's really time to take a look at what we're doing when it comes to fire suppression,” Risch continued. “And … it's getting worse every year, we all sit here, we wring our hands about it, we pass all these laws, and yet, it just, it just continues to get worse.”

But even with some substantial change in the Senate version of the bill compared to the House version introduced by Reps. Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) and Scott Peters (D-San Diego) on June 22, I will be surprised if there is any movement on these bills. In the House, no committee hearings were scheduled and McCarthy’s staff hasn’t responded to my last two emails requesting an update. And the bill introduced by Senators Feinstein and Padilla had a hearing, but it was included with 11 other bills and much of the hearing focused on the disappointment Senators Joe Manchin and John Barrasso have with declining timber production and lack of a return on federal investment in the Forest Service.

Giant sequoias attract attention when people are on vacation in the Sierra Nevada or they are threatened by wildfire, but I think it’s likely the politicians are just hoping to gain some attention by affiliating themselves with the charismatic big trees.

The week in wildfires

According to the Center for Disaster Philanthropy (did you know there was such a thing?), “California has had a remarkably slow wildfire season in 2022, with only 365,895 acres burned in 6,739 fires,” as of Oct. 4. According to the center, the number of fires is slightly above the 5-year average of 6,650, the number of acres burned is approximately 1/5 of the 5-year average of 1,858,428.

As I write this early Monday morning, the wildfires that may have threatened giant sequoias have had little activity since last week’s report.

There was a time that we may have thought fire season was over by early October but in California I think we may be at a point that it’s never really over. But sometimes we get lucky and resources are available to knock fires down before they grow to catastrophic proportions.

Wikipedia has already produced a 2022 California wildfire page with summaries of some of the larger fires this year. There’s lots of interesting reading, including the fact that one of the smallest fires on the list of noteworthy wildfires (Roblar, Sonoma County) burned only 63 acres but killed one person (who was trapped in a vehicle). Another smaller fire, (Coastal Fire, Orange County) burned only 200 acres in May but destroyed 20 homes. 

Five fires, including the Mosquito Fire that threatened the Placer Big Trees giant sequoia grove and the Summit Fire that certainly could have grown to threaten giant sequoias in Tulare County, are not entirely contained yet, but are nearing that point.

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Giant sequoias in the news

• Treelogy is a musical celebration and a call to action to save California’s beloved and iconic trees, including giant sequoia. A 20-minute piece composed by Billy Childs will premiere on Feb. 23, 2023 at Cal State Northridge. You can read more about an Oct. 12 conference bringing together music and technology to address climate change here. And here’s a related story.

• Here’s an op-ed published in the Los Angeles Times and elsewhere by history professor Jared Farmer. His new book, “Elderflora: A Modern History of Ancient Trees,” will be published Oct. 18. In the op-ed, he outlines the situation facing giant sequoias and offers a dire warning: “Unless the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act is the first of many future climate bills, no amount of backfiring, sprinkling or foil-wrapping will alter the long-term outlook for big old trees. In the Sierra, they will disappear except for a limited number of intensely managed groves — de facto botanical gardens, or tree museums.”

• Here are links to two similar articles I wrote last week, published in the Porterville Recorder and The Bakersfield Californian, about the Senate hearing for the Save Our Sequoias Act.

• Outside magazine recently published an article about how the 2022 wildfire season affected public lands including reference to giant sequoias.

• Yosemite National Park celebrated its 132nd birthday last week.

Giant sequoias around the world

Giant sequoias may be California’s most beloved trees (though some would argue for coastal redwoods or our amazing oak trees). But the non-native eucalyptus may be among the most despised. Here is an interesting article about how the trees were first brought here from Australia.

Knowing that the eucalyptus came from Down Under, I wondered if giant sequoias made their way to Australia. They did, indeed. One of the largest grows in Belair National Park, South Australia, where it was planted in 1897.

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!