Sequoia National Park's Giant Forest unscathed by wildfire

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

THREE RIVERS, Calif. (AP) — The ancient massive trees of Sequoia National Park’s famed Giant Forest were unscathed Tuesday even though a wildfire has been burning near them on the western side of California’s Sierra Nevada for nearly two weeks.

“As of right now we don’t have any damage to any of our trees,” said fire information officer Mark Garrett.

The KNP Complex, two lightning-sparked fires that merged, has spread over more than 39 square miles (101 square kilometers), feeding on other types of trees that also live on the high-elevation slopes of the mountain range.

Giant Forest is home to about 2,000 sequoias, including the General Sherman Tree, which is considered the world’s largest by volume and is a must-see for visitors to the national park.



A firefighter hoses down hot spots around a sequoia tree in the Trail of 100 Giants of Sequoia National Forest, Calif., as the Windy Fire burns on Monday, Sept. 20, 2021. According to firefighters, the tree sustained fire damage when the fire spotted into its crown. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/fires-environment-and-nature-forests-california-trees-17e4bbbf3537110ddf51b3a42ca26ec7

[Pinback]

1. Wow, good news for a change

Great work, fire crews.

[Submariner]

2. This time it escaped

take your grandkids there for a visit, so they can tell their grandkids about the giant redwood stands of long ago that used to exist before we killed them off with our greed and willful ignorance.

[SheltieLover]

3. Ty!

[ffr]

4. Come on rain!

A little can go a long way.

[burrowowl]

5. Phew!

[happy feet]

6. Good news. Thx for sharing.

[VGNonly]

7. I've seen the Sequoia

from the Mariposa Grove in Yosemite NP.

Breathtaking!

[pazzyanne]

8. Thank you everyone who helped save these magnificent trees!

[Beaverhausen]

9. One of the most breath-taking places I have ever been

Granted, I haven't been that many places, but Sequoia National Forest and the adjacent Kings Canyon are just magical.

So glad they survived so far.

[Soph0571]

10. Such good news! n/t

[NNadir]

11. It is, nonetheless, important to note that fire is a critical and necessary parameter in the...

...life cycle of Sequoias.

[niyad]

12. Thank you for this bit of good news.

Why is it called the General sherman? Strange name.

[maxsolomon]

15. Named in the wake of the Civil War?

Gen. Sherman led a campaign that devastated the South.

Sherman Tank, too.

[niyad]

16. So what does that have to do with a tree on the other side of the country? It is not

military.

[maxsolomon]

17. Because the West was colonized after the Civil War?

It's been changed once; no reason it can't be renamed:

The General Sherman was named after the American Civil War general William Tecumseh Sherman. The official story, which may be apocryphal, claims the tree was named in 1879 by naturalist James Wolverton, who had served as a lieutenant in the 9th Indiana Cavalry under Sherman.[5]

Seven years later, in 1886, the land came under the control of the Kaweah Colony, a utopian socialist community whose economy was based on logging. Noting the pivotal role that Sherman had played in the Indian Wars and his forced relocation of native American tribes, they renamed the tree in honor of Karl Marx.[6] However, the community was disbanded in 1892, primarily as a result of the establishment of Sequoia National Park, and the tree reverted to its previous name.

In 1931, following comparisons with the nearby General Grant tree, General Sherman was identified as the largest tree in the world. One result of this process was that wood volume became widely accepted as the standard for establishing and comparing the size of different trees.[1][7]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Sherman_(tree)

[Rollo]

18. I don't think the tree in the photo is the General Sherman...

It's a lot bigger than that one.

[bluestarone]

13. Good news!

TYVM firefighters!!!!!

[Red Mountain]

14. I heard they've been trying to do more prescribed burns

in the Sequoia National Park. Not as common out west as in the east from the news report. Certainly a normal management tool in my area of central NC.

These trees need fire.....just not so hot it kills them.