How many sequoias died?

Fires in Sequoia national park and the surrounding national forest that also bears the trees' name tore through more than a third of groves in California and torched an estimated 2,261 to 3,637 sequoias. Fires in the same area last year killed an unprecedented 7,500 to 10,400 of the 75,000 trees.



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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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Located in the Giant Forest surrounded by mature giant sequoia trees, tunnel log fell across the road nearly a century ago. National park visitors and tourists can come drive their vehicles through this fallen giant sequoia. This is a must stop spot inside the park.

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Redwoods also boast some of the world's oldest trees—California redwoods can live more than 2,000 years, while their close relatives, the giant sequoias, have been recorded at nearly 3,500 years of age.

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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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California is home to an estimated 35,000 black bears; several hundred live within the 865,000-acre contiguous spread of Sequoia &Kings Canyon National Parks. Each year, two black bears on average are destroyed after numerous documented efforts are made to deter their taste for the food humans eat.

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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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Giant sequoias thrive in higher elevation habitats than giant redwoods and grow naturally only along the western slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, primarily between 5,000 and 7,000 feet in elevation. Giant sequoias require the periodic dry heat of the mountains in order for their cones to open and release seeds.

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General Sherman Tree is at the north end of Giant Forest. The General Sherman Tree is the world's largest tree, measured by volume. It stands 275 feet (83 m) tall, and is over 36 feet (11 m) in diameter at the base.

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