![]() But not with the conditions that our forests are in today." "That made us realize everything that we thought about how giant sequoia reacted and were adapted to fire, that may have been true under conditions that we had 100 years ago. "That shook us all to the core," he said. From 2020 to 2021 alone, three fires killed up to 19% of the world's population of mature giants-statistics Borden refers to as "eradication numbers." ![]() "There is essentially no historical record to suggest that these trees were ever killed by high severity fire," said Borden, the league's sequoia restoration and stewardship manager.īut over the past eight years, a string of wildfires has killed scores of sequoias by consuming their entire canopy. They have thick, armor-like bark, branches that reach above flames and cones that release seeds only in response to bursts of heat. The trees, which grow naturally only in a 60-mile band of forest on the western slopes of the Sierra, are adapted to thrive alongside flames. Until recently, no one thought reforestation efforts like these would be necessary to save giant sequoia groves, let alone from fire. The National Park Service is drafting an environmental assessment evaluating the effects of planting seedlings in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park. The Forest Service is also planting about 10,000 giant sequoia seedlings across 1,380 acres of high-severity burn areas in the Sequoia National Forest. Scientists are hoping this project will help them learn how to ensure that happens. Some of the 30,000 sequoias planted in this grove could grow to be among the world's largest trees and live for thousands of years-if they first survive the next couple of decades. "And I think all of us who are involved in giant sequoia research and management are going through the same existential crisis ourselves to really try to understand what's going on. "Giant sequoia are going through an existential crisis," said Tim Borden, of the Save the Redwoods League. Such devastation was once unheard of but is now happening more frequently as land management decisions and climate change create more flammable forests in the Sierra. Their seed cones-which would ordinarily spawn new life-were incinerated. The wildfire that scorched this southern Sierra Nevada forest three years ago burned large swaths of land so intensely that it left thousands of ancient giants dead and smoldering. Without this planting, naturalists worry giant sequoias will never grow on this charred hillside again.
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