Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition spends $10M to restore giant sequoia groves from wildfires

A group formed to restore the sequoia groves from recent severe wildfires spent 2022 planting 248,000 native conifers, including giant sequoias.

The Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition's restoration cost $10.5 million and spanned 4,257 acres and 36 groves, according to a progress report by the organization. The coalition also successfully protected groves from wildfires near Placer County Big Trees Grove in Tahoe National Forest and Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias in Yosemite National Park.

Treatment included thinning and prescribed fires to the groves by 824 employees.

“Many of these groves, including the two large groves at Calaveras Big Trees State Park, had not experienced a beneficial fire in decades. That made them very susceptible to wildfire,” said Teresa Benson, Forest Supervisor of the Sequoia National Forest and Giant Sequoia National Monument.

The coalition consists of land stewards of the groves, state and federal officials, national park service workers, and Native American tribes.

“Ninety-nine percent of the giant sequoias today is in public hands and tribal lands’ hands. So we got the stewards in place, and this coalition creates a platform sharing the best science and sharing the mistakes that we’ve made,” said Armando Quintero, director of California State Parks.

Quintero also wants to strengthen the coalition’s work with Native American tribes, combining the knowledge to preserve the trees while also honoring indigenous cultures.

“We not only look at [giant sequoias] as a giant, beautiful that should and continues to be preserved. But those trees provide us many other things as native people; for our gathering purposes and our ceremonial purposes,” said Debra Grimes, a cultural resources specialist and a member of the Calaveras Band of Mi-Wuk Indians.

The three most prominent wildfires were the Castle Fire in 2020, the Windy Fire, and the KNP Complex Fire in 2021.

Over 10,000 giant sequoias, around 20% of the total population, were lost by fires from 2020 to 2021, according to Jessica Morse, deputy secretary for the Forest and Wildland Resilience, a branch of the California Natural Resources Agency.

“This was a full system shock. It demonstrated the urgency of making sure we’re protecting these incredibly iconic species,” Morse said in a media event hosted by the Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition.

Although the sturdy trees, ranging from 250 and 300 feet tall, are resistant to fire and drought, they could not withstand the intensity of the heat from wildfires, Morse said.

She noted the coalition’s efforts are to prevent substantial loss of trees, implement better business and preservation practices and prepare for potential climate change factors.

“Coalition organizations completed an assessment of post-fire restoration opportunities for all 47 of the groves impacted by the 2020 Castle Fire and the 2021 Windy and KNP fires,” it said in the progress report.

The Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition’s next step is to continue scientific research and treat more than 4,000 acres of groves.

The progress report ended with a call for more political support to aid the coalition’s cause.

“We again urge elected officials and policymakers to take action to provide funding and personnel, enact policy changes, and help us reduce fuels now so we can address the problem at scale,” the report said.

California's investment in protecting and restoring the giant sequoias would continue, Quinterom said.

“We recently got funding for $8.6 million for thinning and prescribed fires just for Calaveras Big Trees State Park, and that was a part of a statewide investment of $140 million for forests California State parks,” Quinterom said at the media event.

Morse said more funding and resources will come from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed last year and federal funding created by President Joe Biden’s administration.

“The political push that we saw created space for the administration to take the action that was needed,” she said.

The National Park Service (NPS), the United States Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service, Save the Redwoods League, the University of California, Berkeley, and more have also continued investigating sequoia health throughout 2022, according to the report.

The media event was held on Dec. 14 at the Calaveras Big Trees State Park, breaking down the progress report.

This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition restore giant sequoias from wildfires