More than 85% of all giant sequoia grove acreage across the Sierra Nevada burned in wildfires between 20, compared with only 25% in the century before that, according to the National Park Service.Ĭalifornia Washburn fire moves into Sierra National Forest as fire fight continues in Yosemite

Last year, the KNP Complex and Windy fires destroyed as many as 3,630 more. The Castle fire in August 2020 killed an estimated 7,500 to 10,600 giant sequoias, or 10% to 14% of the Sierra Nevada population. The trees, which grow for thousands of years, evolved with fire and rarely burned until recently, when catastrophic wildfires destroyed 19% of existing trees over the last two years. This seems like a really important thing to do for California and something that should be bipartisan.”

“People love them, and once you see them, they’re pretty majestic. “You don’t have to convince people of the value of these trees,” Peters said. Peters (D-San Diego) and McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) introduced the Save Our Sequoias Act to provide $350 million over 10 years to protect the iconic trees, streamline environmental review for restoring groves and create a reforestation plan. Scott Peters joined House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on a rescue plan for California’s giant sequoia groves. Confronting an existential threat to the world’s largest trees, Rep.

Burn evolved