Giant California Sequoias Saved

Yosemite National Park officials say the threat from wildfires to the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias, some of which predate Christ, has been significantly reduced.  At least one expert is crediting controlled burning with stopping the Washburn Fire before it could reach the ancient trees.  Fire has been used for fifty years to clear vegetation and dead wood from beneath the sequoias. The fire started on Thursday and burned 5 square miles by Tuesday.  The fire is now 22% contained and prevailing winds are moving it away from the grove.  Park authorities do not think the fire was caused by lightening and began near a trail.

Some of the trees were charred, but are expected to survive.  Only one named tree, the Galen Clark, was fire damaged.  Sequoias are adapted to fire, which is part of their natural habitat.  In fact their seeds are activated by heat.  A century of fire suppression have left forests dense with downed timber and debris that makes excellent fuel. Proscribed, low intensity burns reduce the amount of fuel available to a wildfire and give firefighters more opportunity to control a wildfire.  Proscribed burns are not unproblematic, as people in New Mexico found out when a "controlled burn" got out of control and caused the state's largest recorded wildfire in its history. A sprinkler system has been set up beneath the trees to help protect them.  About 20% of all giant sequoias, native to the Sierra Nevadas, have been lost to fire. [photo credit: AP]

The Mariposa Grove was protected by President Lincoln in 1864, and became part of the first national park in 1872.  It has not experienced a wildfire in over a hundred years. Several large blazes have come close, but were halted before reaching the giants.  In 2022 over 35,000 wildfires have burned 4.7 million acres (1.9 million hectares) above average for a fire season.  Scientists have repeatedly warned that climate change is making forests dryer and the fires hotter and more frequent.  Firefighters are battling huge blazes in  Utah.