Those 'other' giant sequoias
And how one has naturally regenerated without fire
Volume 3, Number 28 - Monday, Nov. 11, 2024 - Veterans Day
Published every Monday and Thursday
Perspective
USUALLY, THIS NEWSLETTER focuses on giant sequoias growing in what we know as their natural range on the western slope of California’s Sierra Nevada.
But giant sequoias grow fast and do well in other places when conditions are right for them.
As I’ve reported before, there is even a thriving giant sequoia grove in San Diego County, a coastal county far from the Sierra Nevada.
You can read my earlier newsletter about Jim Hamerly and his efforts to increase giant sequoias on Mt. Palomar in San Diego County HERE.
Hamerly sent the photos above, and one below, to show that some of the trees planted outside the natural range can reproduce — and without fire.
“We will be canvassing the area in upcoming months to find more,” he said in an email.
“Sequoia regeneration is normally stimulated by fire releasing seeds from cones,” Hamerly added. “However, we do have evidence of natural regeneration without fire.”
My opinion here: I’ve observed through the years that much is made about giant sequoias and their need for fire but also that soil disturbance — which sometimes comes from logging or road-building — can trigger regeneration. I get it — of those options fire is the only trigger that is natural (when it’s a lightning strike). But I still think it’s not entirely fair to say that fire is required for giant sequoia regeneration.
Hamerly isn’t suggesting that what he’s observed on Mt. Palomar is sufficient for the future of the trees.
“In their natural environment, a sequoia over its lifetime will release (about) one billion seeds, of which (about) ten mature trees will emerge,” he said. “Thus, the natural regeneration without fire is likely quite rare.”
You can read more about Hamerly’s giant sequoia work HERE.
Upper Moses Prescribed Burn
Cal Fire’s Tulare Unit changed the date for a prescribed burn in Mountain Home Demonstration State Forest from Saturday to today.
According to a news release, Cal Fire personnel are tentatively planning to burn on about 63 acres of state-owned forest land. The burn is expected to take about eight hours and will be monitored for a few days after it is complete.
The purpose of the burn is to promote natural regeneration, enhance wildlife habitat and provide training for fire personnel. The fire is expected to reduce years of forest litter, such as dead and down trees, branches and needles.
Warning: Politics ahead
I lost a subscriber following last Thursday’s newsletter (HERE). The subscriber said: “I have enjoyed all of your articles, but I now believe you have inserted politics into your writings, so please remove me from all future mailings.”
This free subscriber has received the newsletter since February 2023. He may have missed editions where I wrote about politics and giant sequoias HERE and HERE.
Perhaps he meant that I inserted my politics. I’ve reviewed what I wrote last week, and I don’t see it — but we are often blind to our foibles.
At any rate, with nearly all of the natural range of giant sequoias on federal land, and management of those lands dependent on federal policy and funding, I don’t see how I can cover giant sequoias through what can be expected to be a tumultuous change of administration without mentioning politics.
Since we’re on this subject, you can expect that I will also report on the impact of higher temperatures on giant sequoias. I know that so-called “climate change” is controversial. So are many types of forest land management. What one person calls fuel reduction, another calls illegal logging. I’ve come to realize that journalism is a specific type of advocacy. I want to provide readers with a range of information and opinions. Politics is part of that.
Wildfire, water & weather update
No red flag warnings in California this morning, and there appear to be good chances of rain and snow in the mountains this week. Tioga Road (continuation of Highway 120 through Yosemite National Park) and Glacier Point Road will temporarily close at 4 p.m. today, and officials will reassess road conditions after the storm passes. Still, conditions are very dry, and Predictive Services (HERE) slightly increased the risk of a large fire kicking off in the Southern Sierra Nevada. The California Drought Map (HERE) still shows “abnormally dry” throughout much of Sierra Nevada. The best Sierra Nevada weather forecasts are at NWS Hanford, HERE, and NWS Sacramento, HERE.
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Thanks for reading!
How I wish the welfare of Giant Sequoias was free from politics. I'm sure we can forgive your un-subscriber's upset. My brother and I drove past a lovely sequoia in England this August. We were unable to stop. I wanted to photograph it for you.
I agree, kind of hard to write about the fate of giant sequoias without talking politics. I appreciate your perspective, so you won't be losing me as reader over politics. I used to have a nursery here in Kaweah country and started many giant sequoias from seed, no fire needed. Same at the nursery in SNP. I still have one in a pot about to go on its 3rd year of duty as my indoor Christmas tree.