Fires in Sequoia National Park and the surrounding national forest that also bears the trees' name tore through more than a third of groves in California and torched an estimated 2,261 to 3,637 sequoias, which are the largest trees by volume.
FILE - Flames burn up a tree as part of the Windy Fire in the Trail of 100 Giants grove in Sequoia National Forest, Calif., on Sept. 19, 2021. Sequoia National Park says lightning-sparked wildfires in the past two years have killed a minimum of nearly 10,000 giant sequoia trees in California. The estimate released Friday, Nov. 19, 2021, accounts for 13% to 19% of the native sequoias that are the largest trees on Earth.
“The sobering reality is that we have seen another huge loss within a finite population of these iconic trees that are irreplaceable in many lifetimes,” said Clay Jordan, superintendent of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. “As spectacular as these trees are we really can't take them for granted. To ensure that they're around for our kids and grandkids and great grandkids, some action is necessary.
The General Sherman tree — the largest living thing on earth — and other ancient trees that are the backdrop for photos that often fail to capture grandeur of the giant sequoias was wrapped in a foil blanket.A type of fire-retardant gel, similar to that used as absorbent in baby's diapers, was dropped on tree canopies that can exceed 200 feet in height. Sprinklers watered down trunks and flammable matter was raked away from trees.
In 2013, the park had done climate modeling that predicted extreme fires wouldn't jeopardize sequoias for another 50 years, said Christy Brigham, chief of resource management and science at the two parks. But that was at the start of what became a punishing five-year drought that essentially broke the model.
A full mortality count from last year's fire is still not available because crews in the forest were in the process of confirming how many trees died when lightning struck Sept. 9, igniting the Windy Fire in Sequoia National Forest and the SQF Complex in the park, Brigham said.
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