by Sue Cag
Numerous sequoia groves have recently been logged or are currently being destroyed by active (and illegal) logging, including those listed below. In most cases the groves are being re-logged, thereby putting them back into the compromised condition they were in prior to recent fires. They are deliberately being prepped to burn severely in future fire. Heat, aridity, and wind are the top factors in fire severity, and logging increases all three exponentially. It also results in even-aged forests which are known to be prone to severe fire. Groves that burned (and managed themselves naturally) in recent fires, as well as those that didn’t, are being logged in equal measure. Soon, we will have no sequoia groves in any sort of natural condition, only those marauded by people. This is especially poignant since the wildest, most untouched groves fared the best in recent fires.
Why is this happening? Money. The Forest Service and the newly formed lands “coalition” have received millions in taxpayer dollars from the Biden administration and from the state. Lawmakers were duped into thinking that logging is good for our forests when in reality it’s merely a repetition of past mistakes and will only encourage more severe fire. The public remains unaware that these actions completely thwart natural processes and forest recovery. Manipulative PR campaigns have replaced “logging” with euphemisms like “restoration.” Our present ignorance is not unlike how we used to think that fire suppression was a good thing for our forests. Everyone was naively on board with it, despite the fact that it was hindering the natural processes of fire-adapted forests. We are no better today.
Packsaddle Grove (Giant Sequoia National Monument, US Forest Service)
Packsaddle Grove was largely unlogged previously, chock-full of non-sequoia conifers and snags, and fared well in the 2021 Windy Fire as a result. It suffered from “edge effect” due to the proximity of the extremely logged landscape surrounding it (nearly all of which burned severely). Save the Redwoods League announced that they will be logging Packsaddle Grove, despite it having naturally managed itself. This pillaging will leave the grove open to more severe fire in the future due to the removal of windbreaks (trees) and the increase in heat and aridity caused by logging. The marauding will also kill most natural seedlings. It also means that there will be zero remaining unlogged groves or portions of groves of this size in the entire southern portion of the Giant Sequoia National Monument.
Long Meadow Grove (Giant Sequoia National Monument, US Forest Service)
Long Meadow Grove was logged of non-sequoia conifers in the past (and burned). The upper areas consisted of clearcuts and tree plantations. Many of the planted Jeffrey pines died prior to the fire, before reaching maturity, creating dense areas of small dead trees. The surrounding forest was also logged extensively. Most of the forest in this disturbed condition burned severely in the 2021 Windy Fire. The upper portions are being clearcut yet again, putting the forest back into the same perilous condition it was in prior to the fire, repeating the same mistakes we made in the past. Save the Redwoods League announced that they are doing the logging.
South Calaveras Grove (Calaveras Big Trees State Park)
South Calaveras is currently being “prepped” for prescribed fire, including the cutting of trees throughout the entire grove. Recent prescribed burning in North Calaveras killed one of a pair of famous giants called “The Orphans” and damaged others. There were memorials held in honor of the named tree that died. (Too bad the same respects are not being paid to the countless sequoias killed by NPS prescribed burning in the Giant Forest and other groves). The Stanislaus National Forest which surrounds South Calaveras Grove has been logged extensively, including some of the worst clearcutting seen anywhere. Parts of the grove have also been cut into, but the core remained intact until now.
Black Mountain Grove (Giant Sequoia National Monument, US Forest Service)
Black Mountain Grove suffered horrible logging onslaughts in the past, including swaths of forest clearcut so badly that they never healed. You can still see these cuts from various vantage points. Numerous sequoias were damaged or killed by the 2017 Pier Fire. Despite all this, the Forest Service is (commercially) logging the grove yet again, putting the forest back into the same perilous condition it was in prior to the recent fires, and repeating the same mistakes we made in the past.
Alder Creek Grove (Save the Redwoods League, US Forest Service)
Save the Redwoods League (which is actually a greenwashing organization, despite their name) has commercially logged, including clearcutting, a huge swath of forest at the southeast side of Alder Creek Grove. They subsequently broadcast sprayed the mountain with toxic Roundup (glyphosate). They continue to log the grove, cutting down smaller sequoias as well as every other kind of tree. All this despite the grove having naturally managed itself in the 2020 Castle Fire. They’ve also destroyed the natural post-fire sequoia regeneration in order to conduct their own experiments, at their whim since they privately own the land now. This is the same organization responsible for the loss of the majority of coast redwood trees – in the past, they distracted the public by “saving” tiny parcels of redwoods while swaths of pristine forest were purposely destroyed. Unfortunately, their money and media efforts continue to dupe the public to this day.
Landslide Grove (Giant Sequoia National Monument, US Forest Service)
Landslide has been logged this summer by the Forest Service. The grove had mixed logging impacts prior to the new logging. The bottom of the grove was logged when the surrounding forest was (somewhat recently). A lower portion of the grove was partially cut in the distant past, including a few large sequoias. Sequoia wood was taken from other areas of the grove as well. The upper portion of the grove may or may not have been logged. The surrounding forest was logged extensively. One upper section of the grove was severely burned by prescribed fire in 2019, killing most of the non-sequoia conifers in the vicinity and leaving the grove in vulnerable condition.
McIntyre Grove (Giant Sequoia National Monument, US Forest Service)
McIntyre was just cut over by the Forest Service, in the Belknap/Nelson Trail area and the Carr-Wilson area. Luckily, the upper portion of McIntyre has been left alone so far and as a result, has thousands of robust sequoia seedlings. The seedlings in the cut over areas were largely destroyed. Sadly, some baby sequoias are still trying to grow underneath burn piles. Since the arrival of “settlers,” McIntyre has been logged, homesteaded, developed, grazed, and/or burned.
Wishon Grove (Giant Sequoia National Monument, US Forest Service)
Wishon Grove was logged in 2022 despite having managed itself in the 2018 Alder Fire, which burned throughout the entire grove. Wishon was also “skipped” over by the 2020 Castle Fire which burned into Mountain Home Grove instead. The natural sequoia seedlings that were present in the grove are now almost entirely gone, likely due to the logging and also due to Save the Redwoods League’s invasive pillaging of sequoia seed from the grove.
Mountain Home Grove (CalFire/Mountain Home Demonstration State Forest)
Mountain Home is well-known as a logged grove, of both sequoias and non-sequoia conifers, in the past as well as present day. After the 2020 Castle Fire decimated large portions of the grove, CalFire conducted widespread clearcuts, especially on the east side of the grove. Roads snake through barren dirt slopes devoid of any trees. The same area was logged just prior to the fire. Despite this, senseless logging continues unabated.
Nelder Grove (Nelder Grove Historical Area, Sierra National Forest)
The Forest Service is logging Nelder Grove despite the grove having burned in its entirety in the 2017 Railroad Fire, thereby managing itself. Huge sequoia seedlings, perhaps the thickest and most vibrant ever seen, are at risk, if they haven’t been destroyed already.
Merced Grove (Yosemite National Park, NPS)
Merced Grove and the surrounding area is being logged by the NPS despite the fact that the adjacent Stanislaus National Forest burned severely in the 2018 Ferguson Fire because it had been heavily logged just like this.
Converse Basin (Giant Sequoia National Monument, US Forest Service)
Converse Basin is well-known as the grove that was destroyed by logging and it continues on that same path today. Commercial clearcuts are occurring at the “front” of the grove near the highway. We apparently didn’t learn anything from the 1955 McGee Fire which burned the post-logging landscape severely and killed the post-logging tree plantations. We didn’t learn anything from the 2015 Rough Fire which burned through the area either. Despite the sequoia forest’s valiant attempts at natural recovery, we insist on resetting the clock back to zero.
Bearskin Grove (Giant Sequoia National Monument, US Forest Service)
Bearskin has been logged and burned this summer by the Forest Service. The grove had been entirely logged in the past, except for a small portion, but now that formerly intact portion has been logged too. There’s an awful, glaring clearcut in the grove dating from 1983. Forty long years later, the clearcut still hasn’t healed, the conifers never grew back. The leftover sequoias stand alone, out in the open, strangely exposed. They rise like lightning rods, with no protection from the wind. The area is clogged by whitethorn and manzanita. This is the legacy of the Forest Service.
Redwood Meadow Grove (Sequoia National Park, NPS)
Redwood Meadow has been cut over and is currently being intentionally burned (August-September 2023). Satellite fire detections show that the grove is burning hot. The park is killing sequoias and numerous other trees on purpose, as they have in other groves. A portion of the grove is heavily used and has been cut in the past. Next to park buildings, there is a giant sequoia stump with stairs leading up to it, very much resembling the awful dance-floor stump in North Calaveras Grove.
Case Mountain Grove (Bureau of Land Management (BLM))
Case Mountain is well-known as a grove that was mostly destroyed by logging in the past. The BLM manages a significant portion of the grove and the rest is privately-owned. The BLM continues to log their portion of the grove. They recently cut numerous small sequoias and other conifers in the formerly intact main area.
McKinley Grove (Sierra National Forest)
McKinley is a roadside attraction that is cut over repeatedly. The rest of the grove was recently marked for logging as well.
Mariposa Grove (Yosemite National Park, NPS)
Mariposa was cut over and burned using 40 million dollars of public money in 2018. The cutting caused 15 sequoias (and many other conifers) to fall to their deaths during a 2021 wind storm. When so many companion trees are cut down or killed by intentional burning, roots of the surviving sequoias are weakened, water accumulates to compromise them further, and the thinned forest experiences increased wind speed due to the removal of natural windbreaks. (There is a precedent. The Forest Service killed 4 sequoias the same way at Trail of 100 Giants in 2011 and 2019, respectively – by overzealously cutting the moist basin there.) There are countless blackened and dead conifers due to the park’s controlled burns, both still standing and on the ground. The burning seared the protective bark off of many sequoias, killing a few of them outright, and leaving others to die later on. Wide open slopes are densely covered by post-fire pioneer (and very fire-loving) shrubs. Another horrible, enormous swath of land at the south edge of the grove was deliberately burned to a crisp. Mariposa Grove has been tortured by misguided “management” since it was first “discovered” by white people. While it contains some very nice, large trees, it does not at all resemble a genuine sequoia forest.
Red Hill Grove (Save the Redwoods League, Forest Service)
Save the Redwoods League was logging their privately-owned portion of Red Hill prior to the 2021 Windy Fire. We can only assume they resumed their logging of the grove. The Forest Service has closed the area in order to conduct their logging operations.
Silver Creek Grove (CalFire/Mountain Home Demonstration State Forest, Forest Service)
Silver Creek Grove was largely logged in the past, especially around the perimeter, and partially logged again after the 2018 Alder Fire. Currently, awful, recently applied, spray paint mars the ancient sequoia trunks.
