The bold firefighting strategies that saved some of the world’s largest sequoias
3 years, 3 months ago

The bold firefighting strategies that saved some of the world’s largest sequoias

LA Times  

Mark Garrett, a fire information officer, examines a sequoia tree during a media tour of Lost Grove as the KNP Complex fire burns about 15 miles away in Sequoia National Park recently. “It shows the effectiveness, and why it’s so important that we come together as we look to protect these giant sequoias for each generation.” California Fire creeps closer to ancient sequoias, reaching Trail of 100 Giants Flames from the Windy fire are chewing the trunks of trees within Long Meadow Grove, home to some 1,500-year-old sequoias along the Trail of 100 Giants. “That’s not the typical way that large old giant sequoia trees interact with fire,” said Robert York, an extension specialist with UC Berkeley, who has been studying giant sequoias for 18 years and is performing research in the burn area. “This fire is really a call to action for all of us,” said Savannah Boiano, executive director of the park’s nonprofit partner, the Sequoia Parks Conservancy. “And for millions of Americans and people around the world, the call to action is personal when it’s in a place that you love.” The Giant Forest is of such great cultural value that a specialized task force was assembled to defend it when the KNP Complex fire approached, said Ana Beatriz Cholo, incident spokeswoman.

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History of this topic

NPS wants to plant sequoias. Environmentalists sue, say there’s no need to butt in
1 year ago

NPS wants to plant sequoias. Environmentalists sue, say there’s no need to butt in

LA Times  

High-intensity fires in 2020 and 2021 devastated the adult sequoia tree population globally, particularly at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks in Northern California. The National Park Service is calling “for action … with some level of urgency” to reseed burned areas that are “otherwise unlikely to recover” without human intervention. “I’m not exactly sure what’s going on with the …

California’s mountains are too warm for some trees to survive. Inside these ‘zombie forests’
1 year, 1 month ago

California’s mountains are too warm for some trees to survive. Inside these ‘zombie forests’

LA Times  

There’s something eerie about this forest in the southern Sierra Nevada. Researchers at Stanford University found in a recent study that roughly one-fifth of all conifer forests in the Sierra are mismatched with the warmer climate and have become “zombie forests.” “The name ‘zombie forest’ is kind of kitschy, but I’ve come to find that it is haunting,” said ecologist …

How two scorched giant sequoias kicked off a controversy about controlled burns in California
1 year, 1 month ago

How two scorched giant sequoias kicked off a controversy about controlled burns in California

LA Times  

Two beloved giant sequoias scorched in a prescribed burn at Calaveras Big Trees State Park last year now appear likely to recover. “It literally is a carpet of green underneath and they’re all little babies.” Calaveras Big Trees is a haven for local residents, who describe a spiritual connection to the park’s cathedral-like sequoia groves. “I still feel that had …

Opinion: We’ve got it all wrong about sequoias and wildfire
1 year, 5 months ago

Opinion: We’ve got it all wrong about sequoias and wildfire

LA Times  

As my colleagues and I hiked through the Nelder giant sequoia grove south of Yosemite National Park recently, we could barely believe our eyes. The U.S. Forest Service, which manages the Nelder Grove and many other sequoia groves, has repeatedly told the public, the media and Congress that giant sequoias are adapted to mild and moderate surface fires. As it …

In burned-out groves of giant sequoias, crews plant seeds of hope. Will they survive?
1 year, 6 months ago

In burned-out groves of giant sequoias, crews plant seeds of hope. Will they survive?

LA Times  

The worker stabbed the loamy soil with a hoedad, dropped in a delicate sequoia seedling and tamped the dirt tight around it. “Giant sequoia are going through an existential crisis,” said Tim Borden, of the Save the Redwoods League. Save the Redwoods League hopes to plant 30,000 giant sequoia seedlings at their Alder Creek grove property, as part of their …

US takes emergency action to save sequoias from wildfires
2 years, 5 months ago

US takes emergency action to save sequoias from wildfires

Associated Press  

LOS ANGELES — The U.S. Forest Service announced Friday it’s taking emergency action to save giant sequoias by speeding up projects that could start within weeks to clear underbrush to protect the world’s largest trees from the increasing threat of wildfires. “Without urgent action, wildfires could eliminate countless more iconic giant sequoias,” Forest Service Chief Randy Moore said in a …

US takes emergency action to save sequoias from wildfires
2 years, 5 months ago

US takes emergency action to save sequoias from wildfires

Associated Press  

LOS ANGELES — The U.S. Forest Service announced Friday it’s taking emergency action to save giant sequoias by speeding up projects that could start within weeks to clear underbrush to protect the world’s largest trees from the increasing threat of wildfires. “Without urgent action, wildfires could eliminate countless more iconic giant sequoias,” Forest Service Chief Randy Moore said in a …

Yosemite wildfire threatens grove of iconic sequoia trees
2 years, 5 months ago

Yosemite wildfire threatens grove of iconic sequoia trees

Associated Press  

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. — The largest grove of giant sequoias in Yosemite National Park remained closed Saturday as firefighters battled a blaze that threatened the gathering of the iconic trees and forced hundreds of campers to evacuate. The fire was proving difficult to contain, with firefighters throwing “every tactic imaginable” at it, said Nancy Phillipe, a Yosemite fire information …

Bipartisan House bill aims to rescue California’s giant sequoias from wildfires
2 years, 5 months ago

Bipartisan House bill aims to rescue California’s giant sequoias from wildfires

LA Times  

The Windy fire burns a tree in the Trail of 100 Giants grove in Sequoia National Forest last year. Confronting an existential threat to the world’s largest trees, Rep. Scott Peters joined House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on a rescue plan for California’s giant sequoia groves. Peters and McCarthy introduced the Save Our Sequoias Act to provide $350 million over …

Preventative fires credited with saving Yosemite sequoias
2 years, 5 months ago

Preventative fires credited with saving Yosemite sequoias

Associated Press  

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. — A famed grove of giant sequoias in Yosemite National Park survived its first wildfire in more than a century, thanks to efforts to regularly burn the undergrowth beneath the towering trees, a forest ecologist who toured the site said Tuesday. Small, intentionally lit fires over the past 50 years essentially stopped the fire in its …

Firefighters race to defend ancient sequoias from 2,700-acre Washburn fire in Yosemite
2 years, 5 months ago

Firefighters race to defend ancient sequoias from 2,700-acre Washburn fire in Yosemite

LA Times  

Firefighters waged an all-out battle Monday as the 2,720-acre Washburn fire burned at the edges of Yosemite National Park‘s largest grove of ancient sequoia trees. “It has backed a little ways into that, but it hasn’t backed intensely into the grove,” Ahearn said during a Monday night community meeting about the fire. “We have people going in there, cleaning around …

Hotter, drier conditions heighten danger as Yosemite fire threatens ancient sequoias
2 years, 5 months ago

Hotter, drier conditions heighten danger as Yosemite fire threatens ancient sequoias

LA Times  

A fire threatening hundreds of ancient sequoias in Yosemite National Park continued to spread Sunday as firefighters braced for more difficult conditions this week with warmer and drier weather approaching. “The fire is burning in difficult terrain with continuous fuels,” posing a “significant threat to firefighters,” fire officials said in a statement. Last year was a devastating fire season for …

A wildfire threatens giant sequoia trees in Yosemite National Park
2 years, 5 months ago

A wildfire threatens giant sequoia trees in Yosemite National Park

NPR  

A wildfire threatens giant sequoia trees in Yosemite National Park Enlarge this image toggle caption Noah Berger/AP Noah Berger/AP YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. — The largest grove of giant sequoias in Yosemite National Park remained closed Saturday, a day after hundreds of people were ordered to evacuate as a wildfire burning through dense forest became the latest to threaten the …

Giant Forest to reopen months after fires threatened sequoias
3 years ago

Giant Forest to reopen months after fires threatened sequoias

LA Times  

The General Sherman tree stands in the Giant Forest in Sequoia National Park after officials removed its fire-protective covering on Oct. 22. Three months after wildfire flames ripped through California’s ancient sequoia groves, officials at the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks have announced the Giant Forest will reopen to the public. Visitors will be able to access limited areas …

Editorial: California lost thousands of giant sequoias. It’s tragic, but at least we are aware
3 years ago

Editorial: California lost thousands of giant sequoias. It’s tragic, but at least we are aware

LA Times  

Pretty much anyone who has had the privilege of standing next to one of the biggest, oldest giant sequoia trees understands the rush of awe. But as the public tracked the fight against the KNP Complex fire in September, which threatened giant sequoias to the point where their lower parts had to be tucked under fire-resistant foil blankets, it might …

‘There is nothing alive on that tree’: Inside a giant sequoia grove scorched by the KNP Complex fire
3 years ago

‘There is nothing alive on that tree’: Inside a giant sequoia grove scorched by the KNP Complex fire

LA Times  

It looked like a bomb had gone off in the vast stand of giant sequoias on a mountain ridge in the southern Sierra. “That is one of the hardest things that I’ve ever had to look at in my entire 30-year career with the Forest Service.” The Redwood Mountain Grove at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks was devastated by …

Wildfires torched up to a fifth of all giant sequoia trees
3 years, 1 month ago

Wildfires torched up to a fifth of all giant sequoia trees

Associated Press  

LOS ANGELES — Lightning-sparked wildfires killed thousands of giant sequoias this year, leading to a staggering two-year death toll that accounts for up to nearly a fifth of Earth’s largest trees, officials said Friday. Blazes so intense to burn hot enough and high enough to kill so many giant sequoias — trees once considered nearly fire-proof — puts an exclamation …

Thousands of giant sequoias killed in California wildfires
3 years, 1 month ago

Thousands of giant sequoias killed in California wildfires

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Lightning-sparked wildfires killed thousands of …

Wildfires killed thousands of sequoias in southern Sierra Nevada
3 years, 1 month ago

Wildfires killed thousands of sequoias in southern Sierra Nevada

LA Times  

Nathan Stephenson, scientist emeritus at the Western Ecological Research Center, speaks Friday about the loss of giant sequoias in the Redwood Mountain Grove in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. As many as 3,600 giant sequoias perished in the flames of the twin wildfires that ignited during a lightning storm in early September and rampaged through 27 groves of the …

After California wildfire, thousands of trees to be removed
3 years, 2 months ago

After California wildfire, thousands of trees to be removed

India TV News  

In the wake of California wildfires, upwards of 10,000 trees weakened by fires, drought, disease or age must be removed, work that will keep a nearby highway closed to visitors who seek the world’s two largest sequoia trees. The hazard trees could potentially fall onto people and cars on the section of State Route 180 known as Generals Highway, or …

‘Running out of options’: Fight to protect giant sequoias has gotten experimental
3 years, 2 months ago

‘Running out of options’: Fight to protect giant sequoias has gotten experimental

LA Times  

Firefighter Lindsay Freitag sprays water on sequoias on the Trail of 100 Giants to extinguish heat within the massive trees after they were singed in the Windy fire. As flames from the KNP Complex threatened to race up a steep slope toward the remote Muir Grove of giant sequoias, officials at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks had to think …

Impact of forest thinning on wildfires creates divisions
3 years, 2 months ago

Impact of forest thinning on wildfires creates divisions

Associated Press  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Firefighters and numerous studies credit intensive forest thinning projects with helping save communities like those recently threatened near Lake Tahoe in California and Nevada, but dissent from some environmental advocacy groups is roiling the scientific community. “Not only did tens of thousands of acres of recent thinning, fuel breaks, and other forest management fail to stop or …

KNP Complex fire triggers flurry of new evacuations, as flames threaten more giant sequoia trees
3 years, 2 months ago

KNP Complex fire triggers flurry of new evacuations, as flames threaten more giant sequoia trees

LA Times  

National Park Service public information officers inspect the ground around giant sequoias during a tour of the KNP Complex fire burn area Sept. 30 in Sequoia National Park. The 51,000-acre KNP Complex fire tearing through the Sequoia National Park triggered a flurry of evacuations Friday morning, as flames — spurred by a drying trend — threatened communities and burned toward …

Can 2,500-year-old sequoias be saved by 25-year-old climate activists?
3 years, 3 months ago

Can 2,500-year-old sequoias be saved by 25-year-old climate activists?

LA Times  

A giant sequoia near Springville, Calif., was decapitated in the Castle fire in August 2020. Writing on The Times’ op-ed page, 25-year-old Daniel Propp identifies the only productive response by people like him — becoming an activist: “Beyond hope there is more than despair. The ship may sink, but we are going to swim like hell toward shore.” It’s almost …

Wildfires approach more giant sequoias and worsen air quality across Central California
3 years, 3 months ago

Wildfires approach more giant sequoias and worsen air quality across Central California

LA Times  

Firefighters battling the Windy Fire extinguish a spot fire near the Trail of 100 Giants grove of Sequoia National Forest on Sunday. Twin blazes continued to threaten California’s towering sequoia trees and create new miseries for nearby residents, spewing smoke and worsening air quality across Central California on Wednesday. Crews were A rocky rim known as Paradise Ridge has helped …

Sequoia National Park’s General Sherman tree, one of largest in the world, still safe amid growing wildfire
3 years, 3 months ago

Sequoia National Park’s General Sherman tree, one of largest in the world, still safe amid growing wildfire

LA Times  

This image from Saturday showed the KNP Complex fire moving toward the site of General Sherman in Sequoia National Park. Firefighters at Sequoia National Park have used special aluminum foil-like material to protect General Sherman, one of the world’s largest trees, from flames of encroaching wildfires. “Firefighters are going to stay busy in here again today,” Wallace said, “making sure …

Wildfires threatening giant sequoias continue to grow with another red-flag warning day
3 years, 3 months ago

Wildfires threatening giant sequoias continue to grow with another red-flag warning day

LA Times  

Sierra Cobras fire crew member Gustavo Cisneros keeps an eye on a hillside as the Windy fire burns in Sequoia National Forest near the Tule River Reservation on Thursday. Critical fire weather conditions are expected to persist through Sunday evening in Sequoia National Park, where hundreds of additional firefighters are now fighting a lightning-sparked wildfire that has reached the Giant …

Raging California wildfires threaten ancient sequoia forest
3 years, 3 months ago

Raging California wildfires threaten ancient sequoia forest

Al Jazeera  

The extraordinary intensity of the California wildfires could overwhelm the sequoia trees, some thousands of years old. The colossal “General Sherman” tree in Sequoia National Park, the Giant Forest Museum and other buildings were wrapped for protection against the possibility of intense flames, fire spokeswoman Rebecca Paterson said. The Colony Fire, one of two burning in Sequoia National Park, was …

A Single Fire Killed Thousands Of Sequoias. Scientists Are Racing To Save The Rest
3 years, 3 months ago

A Single Fire Killed Thousands Of Sequoias. Scientists Are Racing To Save The Rest

NPR  

A Single Fire Killed Thousands Of Sequoias. Scientists Are Racing To Save The Rest toggle caption Lauren Sommer/NPR On a hot afternoon in California's Sequoia National Park, Alexis Bernal squints up at the top of a 200-foot-tall tree. toggle caption Lauren Sommer/NPR Sequoias need fire, but fires are changing Giant sequoias only grow in isolated pockets, tucked in the mountains …

Sequoia National Park's Giant Trees At Risk As Wildfires Grow
3 years, 3 months ago

Sequoia National Park's Giant Trees At Risk As Wildfires Grow

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK, Calif. — Fire crews moved to ramp up the battle Wednesday against two expanding forest fires threatening Sequoia National Park’s giant sequoia trees and infrastructure. The Colony Fire was a threat to Giant Forest, home to more than 2,000 sequoias, but not imminently, said Mark Ruggiero, fire information officer for Sequoia and Kings Canyon …

Giant Forest trees prepped for flames in Sequoia National Park as KNP Complex fire closes in
3 years, 3 months ago

Giant Forest trees prepped for flames in Sequoia National Park as KNP Complex fire closes in

LA Times  

Flames burn through brush near the entrance to Sequoia National Park near Three Rivers as the KNP Complex fire threatens the area. As the growing KNP Complex fire continues its march through Sequoia National Park, fire crews on Thursday were prepping the famed Giant Forest for flames by wrapping some of the massive sequoias in fire-resistant aluminum material. The grove …

World’s largest trees under siege from California wildfire as sequoias face new perils
3 years, 3 months ago

World’s largest trees under siege from California wildfire as sequoias face new perils

LA Times  

Deep inside the heart of Sequoia National Park lies a cathedral-like grove that is home to thousands of towering sequoia trees. “In a climatological sense, we are in uncharted territory,” said Crystal Kolden, a fire scientist at UC Merced who has been tracking the KNP Complex’s march toward the critically dry forest. “It’s just really not the type of conditions …

Fires shut Sequoia National Park, could threaten huge trees
3 years, 3 months ago

Fires shut Sequoia National Park, could threaten huge trees

Associated Press  

SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK, Calif. — Sequoia National Park is shut down, its namesake gigantic trees potentially threatened by two forest fires burning in steep and dangerous terrain in California’s Sierra Nevada. “There’s no imminent threat to Giant Forest but that is a potential,” Mark Ruggiero, fire information officer for Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks, said Tuesday. “It’s important to …

Wildfires rage in Sequoia National park and forest, sending flames into grove of giant trees
3 years, 3 months ago

Wildfires rage in Sequoia National park and forest, sending flames into grove of giant trees

LA Times  

A pair of lightning-sparked fires that took hold in rugged terrain in the Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks exploded over the weekend, while another blaze to the south burned into a grove of giant sequoia trees, sending smoke billowing above popular tourist destinations and forcing closures in the area. Flames were in the perimeter of the towering trees — …

The Climate Change Link To More And Bigger Wildfires
3 years, 4 months ago

The Climate Change Link To More And Bigger Wildfires

NPR  

The Climate Change Link To More And Bigger Wildfires Enlarge this image toggle caption inciweb.nwcg.gov inciweb.nwcg.gov Across the country people have been experiencing hazy skies from big wildfires in Western states. Nick Mott, editor of the Montana Public Radio podcast, Fireline, sat down with NPR to talk about the role climate change is playing in the west's worsening fire seasons. …

As wildfires decimate the giant sequoia, California faces unprecedented loss
3 years, 6 months ago

As wildfires decimate the giant sequoia, California faces unprecedented loss

LA Times  

A sunset is obscured by smoke-filled skies near Alder Creek Grove, where sequoia trees had grown on this Sierra Nevada ridge top for well over 500 years. “They’re one of the most fire-adapted species on Earth, and that is one way that this really is a warning sign much bigger than the trees themselves,” Brigham said. “Then things started to …

Amid devastating US fires, experts urge fire prevention rethink
4 years, 2 months ago

Amid devastating US fires, experts urge fire prevention rethink

Al Jazeera  

Calls grow for state and national prescribed burns strategies to prevent repeat of huge wildfires in Western states. “I am sick of being politicised,” said Lenya Quinn Davidson, University of California Fire adviser, adding the scale of the fires showed the need to change policy towards fire management. “The National Park Service fuels management programme, which includes prescribed fire, continues …

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