New information from Nelder Grove
And astounding 2025 statistics from CalFire
Volume 3, Number 42 - Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025
Published every Monday and Thursday
Perspective
YOU MAY RECALL that the Nelder Grove of giant sequoias was hit hard by wildfires, including the 2017 Railroad Fire and 2020 Castle Fire — in addition to Mono Winds in April 2021 that felled many trees.
The grove is on the Bass Lake Ranger District of Sierra National Forest and work by the Forest Service there is also the subject of litigation filed in July 2013 by by Earth Island Institute and Sequoia ForestKeeper. Here are links to some newsletters where I’ve discussed the Nelder Grove and the litigation previously.
July 17, 2023, “Environmental groups file lawsuit; Complaint challenges Forest Service project in Nelder Grove” HERE.
June 3, 2024, “A visit to Nelder Grove; Brenda Negley's narrative is priceless”, HERE
June 6, 2024, “Did the Forest Service go too far? Work in the Nelder Grove is subject of unresolved lawsuit” HERE.
Aug. 8, 2024, “Nelder Grove litigation; Court filings continue in 'emergency' dispute” HERE.
Last June, as you can read in the linked newsletter above, District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston in Fresno said in a minute order that it was likely to be six months or more before recent motions in the matter would be resolved.
Both the government and the environmental groups followed with some filings in June, July and early August 2024.
I check on pending litigation from time to time and recently saw that on Jan. 10, the government provided the court with the latest Nelder Grove Fuels Reduction Project Decision Memo, signed by District Ranger Dean Gould on Dec. 30, 2024. This was the only filing related to this case made since Aug. 1, 2024. You can read the decision memo and review related documents HERE.
Here’s the simplified version of the issues in the litigation that I provided in my June 6, 2024, newsletter:
On July 22, 2022, Forest Service Chief Randy Moore approved what is known as the Giant Sequoia emergency response. I’ve reported on this many times before, so will try not to repeat too much, but in a nutshell, work to reduce fuels in some giant sequoia groves — including the Nelder Grove — was authorized because the agency believed (and apparently still believes) that the work was necessary to protect giant sequoia groves.
The plaintiffs cited provisions of law, including the National Environmental Policy Act and National Forest Management Act, and claim that the Forest Service violated some provisions of those laws.
The government says it did not violate the laws. In some cases, the government said that some of the provisions of the law do not apply.
The plaintiffs stated that some of the work is or has actually killed some young giant sequoia trees. The government agreed that this can be the case but cites its belief that there is a greater risk to giant sequoias from potential wildfires.
I wasn’t able to reach someone at Sierra National Forest this morning to discuss what might be different in the latest decision memo. But I was able to read that the decision applies to up to 800 acres of 1,432 acres included in the project analysis.
The document notes that:
The project began in July 2022, when the Chief of the Forest Service signed an approval granting emergency action pursuant to the Forest Service’s emergency response regulations. … This approval allowed the Forest Service to begin treating in and around sequoia groves without having to wait to complete the NEPA process. The Forest Service has been working on that NEPA process concurrently with implementation, and this decision memo and its attendant documents represent the culmination of that process.
The latest decision memo calls for us of a “suite of treatment methods” to reduce live and dead fuels within the Nelder Grove including cutting down trees, burning piles, using helicopters to remove fuels from steep slopes and — “if environmental and market conditions and funding availability allow” — removing forest products such as biomass or cull logs. (You can read more detail in the document).
What was not clear to me is whether the work has already been completed and the latest document is merely a report of the related analysis or whether there is more work to be completed. As I’ve reported earlier, I was astounded when I visited Nelder Grove in June 2024 by the massive size of the burn piles and I’ve heard since then that SNF was possibly using helicopters to remove some of the heavy fuel.
I’ve previously requested information about activities from SNF with no response, but I do hope someone will return my phone call from this morning so I can find out exactly what work is planned and when.
Will the additional documentation or reduction in acreage make a difference in the lawsuit? I don’t know.
Stay tuned!
CalFire’s 2025 wildfire stats
CalFire on Jan. 11 posted the astounding graphic below on Facebook, with this information:
California is grappling with an alarming increase in wildfire activity. Compared to the 5-year average, the state has experienced a year-to-date 120 percent increase in fire starts and a whopping 293,000 million percent surge in total acres burned — now nearing 40,000 acres in just the first 10 days of January.
These numbers underscore the urgency of being prepared. Now more than ever, it’s critical to harden your home against wildfires and create defensible space around your property. Simple steps like clearing dry vegetation, maintaining a buffer zone, and using fire-resistant building materials can make a difference.
Wildfire, water & weather update
I’m sure you know that fires fed by Santa Ana winds are continuing to burn in Southern California. Check watchduty.org for the latest information. Its map also shows a few small prescribed burns from Yosemite north.
Sierra National Forest reported on Facebook Monday that it has had:
“mobilized substantial resources to help combat the Santa Ana wind-driven severe wildfires in Southern California. Initially SNF dispatched two Type 3 fire engines and a 10-person firefighting team to crucial areas, including some hot spots located on the Angeles and Los Padres National Forests.
“As the fire situation worsened on Jan. 7, SNF quickly increased its support, adding three more Type 3 fire engines, a Type 2 water tender, another 10-person team, and seven specialized firefighters for leadership roles. To date, SNF has deployed:
- 5 Type 3 fire engines
- 1 Type 2 water tender
- 3 10-person suppression teams
- 10 single-resource firefighters
“SNF has deployed 84 firefighting staff to the wildfire crisis sweeping Southern California. USFS resources have been vital in ground and aerial firefighting operations.
Sunny and dry weather will continue throughout the Sierra Nevada for the next 10 days or so.
If you’re wondering why, I found an interesting article by Anthony Edwards of the San Francisco Chronicle (published yesterday) that explains that something called a “rex block” is to blame. Read it HERE (gift link). And an excerpt:
A stubborn atmospheric blocking pattern, known as a rex block, is keeping California locked into a long dry spell, shunting storms away while periods of Santa Ana winds continue.
Rex blocks are defined by high-pressure systems located north of a low-pressure system.
While rex blocks are frequent in spring, they are unusual in winter. Winds blowing west-to-east in the upper atmosphere, known as the jet stream, are typically strong enough to prevent blocking patterns from persisting for long periods of time.
In a rex block, the upper-level winds reverse direction between the clockwise-spinning high-pressure system and counterclockwise-spinning low-pressure system.
California’s Fire Weather map HERE shows much less territory under a Red Flag Warning this morning — hopefully providing a break for firefighters in Los Angeles.
All of the Central and Southern Sierra Nevada are still “abnormally dry,” according to the California Drought Map (HERE).
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