In the path of a wildfire: an unusual grove
The Placer County Big Tree Grove is the most northern giant sequoia grove
Volume 1, Number 6 - Monday, Sept. 12, 2022
Plant biologist Zane Moore expressed his concern for giant sequoia trees in the Placer County Big Tree Grove as the Mosquito Fire burned just miles away. – Zane Moore via Twitter
Perspective
IMAGINE HOW YOU MIGHT FEEL if you knew that only six specimens of a genetically distinct plant remained on the planet — and learned that they were only miles from a raging wildfire.
That’s the situation a plant biology graduate student at the University of California, Davis, found himself in on Sept. 9. And he took to social media to share the story, hoping to encourage forest managers and firefighters to take steps to protect trees in the fragile Placer County Big Tree Grove.
Zane Moore’s tweet caught my attention:
@CALFIRENEU @Tahoe_NF We risk losing the most genetically distinct and outlier #GiantSequoia grove permanently from the #MosquitoFire. Seeds are unlikely to regenerate as in prior #Sequoia burns. The grove is small and should be prioritized. #wildfires Save #PlacerGrove!
The Mosquito Fire is the largest wildfire currently burning in California and has impacted thousands of people with evacuations. The fire is burning in two counties and on two national forests, so there certainly are many special places of concern to firefighters and forest managers. But like Moore, I’m hoping these unique giant sequoia trees can be saved.
You may not have heard of the small Placer County giant sequoia grove, also known as the Big Trees Grove. It’s the most northern natural stand of giant sequoias and also the smallest, according to an environmental document published by Tahoe National Forest in 2013. It’s located on the American River Ranger District of that national forest. The grove is 24 driving miles east of Foresthill, just off the Mosquito Ridge Road. By crow-miles it’s even closer, and at the time of Moore’s tweet Friday, the Mosquito Fire was estimated by some to be only four or five miles from the grove.
Moore was kind of enough to respond to my inquiry by email and shared more information about the important trees in this small grove:
“A population genetics study shows that they share almost no alleles from any of the other sequoia groves, making them a unique population that is most distinct from any of the other sequoia grove populations. So a loss of any of these trees could mean a loss of alleles that might be helpful to introduce through crossbreeding with other sequoia groves,” he wrote.
The word “allele” is one of those that I read with no real understanding — only some vague idea that it has to do with DNA and traits. If your understanding is better than mine, skip the next sentence. But if you’re also wondering what the word means, here’s what dictionary.com has to say: “one of two or more alternative forms of a gene that arise by mutation and are found at the same place on a chromosome.”
The bottom line is that Moore and others at UC Davis (and other universities) who have been studying redwood genetics know lots about these trees. Just last December it was announced that scientists have completed the sequences for coast redwood and giant sequoia genomes.
According to a news release, the multiyear effort was conducted by researchers at UC Davis, Johns Hopkins University, University of Connecticut and Northern Arizona University. The work was was funded by Save the Redwoods League and the research will provide a foundation to better understand redwood responses to climate impacts and pathogens.
There is so much more I could write about the Placer County Big Trees. Tahoe National Forest did work in 2014 and 2017 that was intended to protect the trees. As with other Sierra Nevada giant sequoia groves, a buildup of vegetation was identified in 2013 and hand-thinning followed by prescribed burning was planned in 2014 and 2017.
I hope the Mosquito Fire doesn’t reach the grove. I’ve requested an update on what steps might have been taken to protect the small grove and will report back when I learn more.
The week in wildfires
I wrote about the Mosquito Fire above. At 46,587 acres with 10 percent containment, it was the largest wildfire burning in California at this writing. The fire is burning on Tahoe and Eldorado national forests as well as state and private lands. Thousands of people were evacuated from their homes in El Dorado and Placer counties.
Another fire of concern this week is the Fork Fire in Madera County. This is one of at least four fires in the foothills near giant sequoia country recently. CalFire was able to knock most of them down quickly, but the Fork Fire took out homes. An investigation shows it was caused by a vehicle. The fire was 85 percent contained as of the latest report, with one firefighter injury and 43 structures destroyed.
And in Yosemite, officials continue to manage the Red and Rodgers fires that I’ve written about in earlier reports. Now there are three other small fires — the Ranch, Alder and Aspen fires. The first two very small and attributed to lightning strikes. The Aspen Fire was contained at 26 acres. You can read about the latest about all of these fires here.
Officials at Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park have provided information about two fires there — the Avalanche Fire and Summit Fire. Neither are believed to pose a current threat to people or infrastructure but are creating smoke. From available information they don’t appear to be threatening any giant sequoia groves.
Speaking of smoke, I’ve just found that the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District offers a website that shows the wildfire source of smoke affecting the valley. In addition to the other fires listed above, this morning the fires contributing to air pollution in the San Joaquin Valley included the Cedar Creek Fire on Willamette National Forest in Oregon, the Fairview Fire in Riverside, Radford Fire in San Bernardino and Mountain Fire in Siskiyou County.
Giant sequoias in the news
• “Big Trees - Big Impact” is a documentary in progress by Lee Terkelsen of Earth Images Productions for Valley PBS. And at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 15, there’s an opportunity in Visalia to preview some excerpts and hear from the producer. I met Terkelsen at a recent media event for the Forest Service’s giant sequoia emergency action project and can’t wait to watch his documentary. More information about the Sept. 15 event here.
• Plans for prescribed burning are underway as part of the Forest Service’s giant sequoia emergency action. Read about it here in the Porterville Recorder.
• The journal, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment has just published a commentary by a dozen scientists (including many from California) called “Counteracting Wildfire Misinformation.” Although it’s published in a scientific journal, it’s an easy read. A key takeaway: “Vulnerability to misinfor-mation is often driven by distrust in media and institutions, and exacerbated by rapid spread over social media.” This is one of the things I’m hoping to address with this newsletter. You can read the scientists’ commentary here.
• I had two articles published in daily newspapers last week, slightly different takes on the same topic. One was published in the Porterville Recorder, the other in The Bakersfield Californian. You can read them here and here.
Giant sequoias around the world
With the death of Queen Elizabeth this past week I wondered if she had ever seen giant sequoia trees. Learning that she visited Yosemite National Park, I think there is a good chance she may have seen the trees growing there. The Fresno Bee and other media published photos from her 1983 visit, but the photos are black and white and I’m not sure if one big tree in a photo is a giant sequoia or another conifer.
There are giant sequoias in the UK, however, including at the Edinburgh Royal Botanical Gardens. There are some nice photos of redwoods growing there on this website. The trees were first called Wellingtonia in Britain.
I think it’s interesting that very old and large giant sequoias are called monarchs and I like to imagine Queen Elizabeth would have appreciated these great trees.
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!