How many giant sequoias have burned?

A study last year by Stephenson, of the USGS, and Christy Brigham, chief of resources at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, found that the fire killed as many as 10,000 large sequoias — wiping out up to 14 percent of all large sequoias across its natural range in the Sierra Nevada.



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Six fires, occurring between 2015 and 2021 killed many large sequoias in numerous groves across the Sierra Nevada (Figure 1). More than 85 percent of all giant sequoia grove acreage across the Sierra Nevada has burned in wildfires between 2015 and 2021, compared to only one quarter in the preceding century.

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Whitebark pine, Western juniper and Douglas-fir can live more than 1,000 years while giant sequoias can live more than 3,000 years. Giant sequoias are the third longest-lived tree species with the oldest known specimen to have been 3,266 years old in the Converse Basin Grove of Giant Sequoia National Monument.

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Visit the Parker Group Sequoias This is a group of giant sequoia trees that are huddled close to each other. We were thrilled to get up and close to some of the largest Sequoia trees. Unlike the General Sherman Tree, which is fenced off, one can walk up close to these trees and even touch them.

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Theodore Roosevelt led to the expansion of Yosemite National Park to protect the Mariposa Grove, and Sequoia National Forest was formed in 1908 to preserve many of the remaining groves.

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