What is the best management for giant sequoias?

A proposed bill would establish a new national monument

Volume 1, Number 21 - Monday, Dec. 26, 2022 (with a correction *noted below)

Firefighters at Calaveras Big Trees State Park burn materials piled during earlier work to remove vegetation around giant sequoia trees. The burning took place on Dec. 14 as part of a media event held in conjunction with a meeting of the Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition. — Photo by Claudia Elliott 

Perspective

YOU MAY KNOW that many different stewardships are involved with the management of giant sequoia groves in the Sierra Nevada. Among these are federal, state and county governments, an Indian tribe, a university and a nonprofit organization. The federal agencies involved include the Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service and National Park Service.

Only recently have most of these begun to work together in a formal way — as part of the Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition. 

Through this effort, these land stewards have ramped up communication — with each other and with the public. As noted in this report issued earlier this month, scientists continue to study a range of issues related to giant sequoia mortality, including climate change, fire and more.

Whether the Coalition’s work can be sustained financially and made official through the proposed Save Our Sequoias Act, or some other legislation, remains to be seen. 

The National Park Service, at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, pioneered the use of prescribed fire in giant sequoia groves in 1968. By 1993, Research Scientist Dave Parsons wrote: 

“Among the significant constraints that threaten future progress of the giant sequoia prescribed fire program are funding and staffing limitations, air quality restrictions, public and concessioner use conflicts (including the effects of smoke), cultural and archeological concerns, requirements for expensive fuel manipulation around sequoias, and the lack of basic knowledge of long-term fire effects.”

What has changed since 1993?

Many things, of course. Other giant sequoia land stewards have joined the NPS in efforts to use prescribed fire in giant sequoia groves and — according to the Save the Redwoods League —   we’ve lost an estimated 20 percent of all the mature giant sequoia in the world since 2015.

I could write a book (or two) about why it’s taken more than 50 years for all of the members of the Coalition to get on board with prescribed fire. But instead I will direct you to Dave Parsons’ list of “significant constraints” from 1993 because, guess what? All of those constraints are still in play except, perhaps, for the “lack of basic knowledge of long-term fire effects.” 

In part because decades have passed and more research has been done, we know more about giant sequoias and fire. Not everything, I’m sure, but more.

And I will direct your attention to another of the items on Parsons’ 1983 list — “requirements for expensive fuel manipulation around sequoias.” 

I am not a scientist or a forester, but if I understand correctly, that “expensive fuel manipulation” is exactly what land managers did their best to kick-start last summer with the emergency response in giant sequoia groves.

And the question of the day is, what if a plan could have been put in place — and funded — to do such work on a regular basis on all giant sequoia lands beginning in 1993. Would two decades of fuel manipulation and prescribed burning have saved giant sequoias from the high intensity wildfires we have seen since 2015?

We will never know.

All we can really know is that at this moment, the Coalition has a plan and by its markers made progress in 2022. 

What’s also important to know is that the restoration treatments supported by the Coalition, including hazard tree removal and fuels reduction within and near giant sequoia grove boundaries, are not supported by all environmental groups. Some believe that the work is essentially logging and not good for the forest or the giant sequoias.

I doubt that we will ever reach full consensus about the best management for giant sequoias. However, through the Coalition the entities responsible for their stewardship seem to have put together a platform for working together.

Which brings me to news of a proposed new national monument. As reported by National Parks Traveler and others, two Democratic Congressional representatives from California are pushing to have the 1.4 million acres that lie between Yosemite and Kings Canyon National Park made into a new national monument to be managed by the NPS.

The bill, proposed by Rep. Jackie Speier of the Bay Area and Rep. Jerry McNerney of Stockton, would completely eliminate Sierra National Forest, established in 1893. The bill is co-sponsored by seven other Democratic representatives to date.

Based in Mariposa, the United the Parks organization has worked since 2017 with a goal “to protect the federal land between Yosemite and Kings Canyon National Parks by creating the Range of Light National Monument.”

The U.S. has 130 areas designated as national monuments, including Giant Sequoia National Monument that would be on the southern edge of the proposed new Range of Light National Monument. GSNM was created by presidential proclamation using powers of the Antiquities Act of 1906. 

There are two* giant sequoia groves located within Sierra National Forest that would be moved from Forest Service management to NPS management if the new national monument is created as proposed.

One is the Nelder Grove and the other is the McKinley Grove.

Here is what Friends of the Nelder Grove has to say about the 1,540 acre tract that is the only grove of giant sequoias on Sierra National Forest:

“Nelder Grove historically had about 400 mature giant sequoias, we lost some mature sequoias in our historic past, then we lost 277 mature sequoias that we cut down for fence posts and then a handful fell over due to natural events. We were then left with almost 100 remaining giants. During the Railroad fire we lost 40 percent of our remaining mature sequoia trees, and now we have approximately 60 left.”

As reported in August by the Mariposa Gazette and others, the Forest Service included the Nelder Grove in its emergency action last summer and significant fuel reduction took place in the grove. (The McKinley Grove was not included in the emergency action. I’ll write more about the McKinley Grove in a future edition).

Under NPS management, it would seem that these groves would be managed with the same philosophy in place at Sequoia and Kings Canyon and Yosemite national parks. However, it’s unknown what resources would be available for that purpose.

Stewards of the Sierra, a nonprofit group based in North Fork with a focus on recreation, has called the effort “a land grab.” A note on the organization’s website states:

“This bill will encompass all of the Sierra National Forest 1.4 Million Acres from Yosemite National Park to Kings Canyon National Park and will close the forest to most recreation. This is their 2nd attempt to pass this thru Congress.”

The organization, Unite the Parks, does not seem to be on board with the philosophy currently guiding the Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition. Among 24 scientists who have supported the organization’s efforts as of June 2019 is Chad Hanson of the John Muir Project. The John Muir Project has been critical of Forest Service and NPS management and sued the agencies.

United the Parks’ treatise, “Logging increases wildfire severity” states:

“There is a popular narrative that wildfires today burn more severely than those of the past, because of excessive fuel loads (resulting from, so the story goes, decades’ long misguided fire suppression and irrational anti-logging practices).”

And: “the data show that logging is correlated with forests prone to higher-severity wildfires. This is inconsistent with the fuel-load narrative and the stated purpose of post-fire salvage-logging “vegetation treatments.”

The organization’s position paper on logging references a 2016 report covering data from 1984 to 2014 — a period before the Rough Fire of 2015 burned more than 150,000 acres including more than 58,000 acres on Sierra National Forest. This was also before the Railroad Fire took out 40 mature giant sequoia trees in the Nelder Grove 2017. Or… well, the list of high-intensity wildfires on the Sierra Nevada since 2015 has grown pretty long.

I do try to keep an open mind. I have to wonder, though, if Reps. Speier and McNerney have been paying attention or are following an old script.

It is true that not everyone agrees with the actions taken by members of the Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition or the Save Our Sequoia Act also pending in Congress. 

But what is the best management for giant sequoias? I think it’s whatever might keep them all from burning up.

GS Lands Coalition progress

I’m continuing with reports from the Dec. 14 meeting of the Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition here…

The second most northerly place to find giant sequoia groves is at Calaveras Big Trees State Park, located off of Highway 20 just east of the small town of Arnold, California. Yes, this was also the location of the recent meeting of the Coalition. The park is one of 280 managed by the California State Parks system.

California’s state park system has a long history. And the state was the first governmental entity to take action to protect giant sequoia trees, as noted in a history reported on its website:

The first state park was conceived in California in 1862. Captain Israel Ward Raymond and California’s U. S. Senator John Conness wanted to have natural land areas at Yosemite set aside purely for the purpose of preservation and public enjoyment. At Raymond's request, Senator Conness introduced a bill in the Senate that quickly passed through both Congressional houses. President Abraham Lincoln signed The Act of June 30, 1864 (13. Stat. 325), granting the “Yo-Semite Valley” and the Mariposa Big Tree Grove to the State of California. Governor Frederick Low accepted the grant in September of that year. The granted land was eventually returned to the federal government in 1906, becoming part of the surrounding Yosemite National Park that had been formed in 1890.

Calaveras Big Trees State Park was established in 1931. There are two giant sequoia groves within the park — the North and South groves. Crews worked on both groves in 2022, according to the Coalition report:

California State Parks conducted restoration treatments on a total of 297 acres using broadcast and pile burning as well as hand crews to reduce the fuel load. Approximately 250 giant sequoias and mature sugar pine trees were prepped for burn treatments in the South Grove, and well over 300 snags were felled in preparation for the burns. 

The state spent more than $1.4 million on restoration work done by 22 people in 2022. The park’s fuel reduction project was supported by the California’s Wildfire and Forest Resiliency Program, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection's California Climate Investments Program in partnership with Save the Redwoods League, and the USDA Forest Service.

Calaveras Big Trees State Park is fortunate to have a robust nonprofit organization helping support its mission. The Calaveras Big Trees Association operates a visitor center and supports educational and interpretive programs at the popular park. The Association also teamed up with the California State Parks Foundation to host the recent meeting of the Coalition at the park.

If you live near the area, consider joining the Association on a First Day Hike at Calaveras Big Trees on New Year’s Day.

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Giant sequoias in the news

• I’ve shared posts previously from The Smokey Wire, a “National Forest News & Views” blog that I follow. You may have to scroll down to read it, but you’ll find a guest post I wrote for the blog here. 

• Here’s an excellent article from the Mariposa Gazette about the Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition’s recent progress report. The Gazette is California’s oldest weekly newspaper of continuous publication.

• Another local publication, the Calaveras Enterprise, published this great article about the progress report and promises a part two coming soon.

And here’s a report from the Sun-Gazette, a newspaper that serves the Tulare County area near the Ash Mountain entrance to Sequoia National Park.

Historic photo of the week

Rangers at Sequoia National Park on Jan. 1, 1942. Chief Ranger Ford E. Spigelmyre is on the right. The fallen giant sequoia is one known as the Puzzle Corner Tree (formerly the Leaning Tree). — Frank R. Oberhansley, National Park Service

Giant sequoias around the world

Giant sequoias in parks and other public places are frequently used as a Christmas trees. And this tree in Langford, British Columbia — a city on Vancouver Island — is a beautiful example. On Dec. 3 the tree was lit up for Christmas for the first time since 2019, “turning much of the city’s downtown core into a festive wonderland,” according to the article. During the pandemic the community wasn’t able to get together for the traditional tree-lighting ceremony. 

Thanks for reading!

*I had an error in the original version of this post. A reader alerted me to the fact that there are actually two giant sequoia groves on Sierra National Forest. Previously I only included the Nelder Grove. (So much to learn, so little time!)