giant sequoia and fire

Overhead view of a few firefighters watching smoldering burn piles in green scrub in the shadow of tall trees.

Banned for 100 years, cultural burns could save sequoias 

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Orange flames crackled to life as Tübatulabal Tribal Chairman Robert Gomez bent to light a pile of dry brush. Wisps of smoke drifted upwards, framed by the tawny bark of the giant sequoias standing watch. On this cloudless June day …

Giant sequoia seedling

Can the giant sequoias recover on their own?

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In August of 2020, the Castle Fire swept through the Board Camp Grove, a small, remote stand of giant sequoias at the southern end of Kings Canyon National Park. The fire burned through the crowns of many trees and left …

Two female restoration workers in neon-green vests smile in front of a partially burned sequia forest

So long, Long Meadow, we’re packed for Packsaddle!

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As winter approaches, Save the Redwoods League staff are raising mugs of hot cocoa to toast a wildly productive work season in the giant sequoia range. The big win: Completing risk-reduction and wildfire resilience work in Long Meadow Grove, which …

A woman stands next to a giant sequoia tree among burned giant sequoia, with the sun shining.

Giant sequoias’ declining wildfire resilience

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For millennia, one of the defining characteristics of giant sequoias has been their innate resilience to wildfire. But in the last several years, severe fires in the Sierra Nevada have revealed an unprecedented vulnerability in the groves. League staffers’ publication in a scientific journal is the first to document this new phenomenon.

Two firegfighters stand on a ridge with fire and smoke

Backburning: fighting fire with fire

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Fire crews use backburning to protect important values such as homes, giant sequoia groves, and infrastructure like the Sequoia National Parks headquarters during the KNP Complex fire.

A giant sequoia grove

Windy Fire reaches Red Hill

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As the Windy Fire burns in Red Hill, the League needs supporters to champion prescribed burning and fire resilience work.