California wildfire threatens ancient giant sequoia trees

[G_j]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/10266768/California-wildfire-threatens-ancient-giant-sequoia-trees.html


By Nick Allen, Los Angeles7:10PM BST 26 Aug 2013

A colossal wildfire raging on the edge of Yosemite National Park is threatening San Francisco’s water supply and some of the world’s largest and oldest trees.

The Rim Fire, one of the biggest ever blazes in California, has consumed 225 square miles of picturesque forest land, an area the size of Chicago, and is being tackled by 2,800 firefighters supported by helicopters and air tankers.

Flames reached within two miles of the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, which supplies 85 per cent of the water used by 2.6 million people living in the San Francisco Bay Area, about 200 miles to the west.

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Measures were taken to protect two groves containing three dozen giant sequoia trees. The enormous, ancient trees can resist fire but park officials cleared brush and set up sprinklers as precautions.

A Yosemite spokesman said: “All of the plants and trees in Yosemite are important, but the giant sequoias are incredibly important both for what they are and as symbols of the national park system.”

..more..

[Stuart G]

1. Very sad..but the forest will grow again.

Sadly that cannot be said about certain other kinds of ...so called "human destruction" ..Once ruined by humans, many things are
completely dead.

[G_j]

3. usually Sequoias need fire to regenerate

but this fire is so hot it could very well kill them. They are some of oldest living things on the planet.

[Brother Buzz]

4. Giant Sequoias need the fire to clear the ground for the new crop of seeds to germinate

The seeds that will germinate in a freshly burned area are still in the trees, and timing is everything; seeds need to drop and disperse after the fire and before the winter snows.

As a child, I was told Giant Sequoia cones needed to actually to be scorched by a fire in order open up and release their seeds. It turns out that story was just that, a story.

These two groves stand a good chance of increasing their numbers, thanks to the actions of the park officials. Now, stand back and let Mother Nature do her splendid work.

[yawnmaster]

6. Problem sometimes is that fire is not allowed to clear the brush...

and the ground gets too much burnable material over the years.
when a fire finally comes that can't be controlled it becomes too hot and damages the trees.

[Brother Buzz]

7. Totally true

Fortunately, it appears these groves have had been addressed to some degree; a quick low fire through them may not be near as cataclysmic as the brush chocked areas surrounding them.

[mopinko]

5. many are already fire damaged

and human damaged.
hope their efforts pay off.

[joeybee12]

2. Hopefully they will survive so more can see those magnificent trees...

They really are something to behold...knr

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

8. This morning it was only 7 percent contained, this evening 40 percent.

Someone at our training tonight showed a video of a pilot dropping retardant on the Rim Fire.