Big news for big trees - Giant Sequoia National Monument, California - Brief Article

Sunset, Sept, 2000 by Matthew Jaffe

Autumn is prime time to explore and hike California's new Giant Sequoia National Monument

As the fog lifts from the sequoia grove, the sun begins to stream into the shadowy canyon, striking the great trunks of a trio of sequoias. The light fires the trees' bark from a dull brown to a rich cinnamon red, and the calls of white-crowned sparrows and wrens begin to bounce around the grove. Coming near the end of a gloomy morning, the sun's return is like another dawn.

With the recent establishment of Giant Sequoia National Monument, it is indeed a new day for these trees here and in 13,000 acres of old-growth sequoia groves on public lands outside of neighboring Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks.

Created by presidential proclamation, the new monument will increase protection for more than half of the world's remaining giant sequoia groves (sequoias only grow in the Sierra Nevada south of Lake Tahoe). While the old-growth trees themselves--the world's largest living things--haven't been felled for decades, other trees surrounding the groves, including some immature sequoias, have been logged as recently as the mid-1980s. Environmentalists fear that the effects of this logging on the watershed could harm the ancient stands.

The purpose of the 327,769-acre monument, which consists of two sections carved out of Sequoia National Forest, is to protect the trees and the watersheds in which they grow. Joe Fontaine, a retired teacher and member of the Sierra Club's Sequoia Task Force, says that the combined watersheds of the new monument and nearby national parks finally encompass the area that John Muir had identified in 1901 as critical for sequoia protection.

Still, plans for the monument have drawn fire--and not only from timber interests worried about jobs (a sawmill in the area recently closed). The presidential proclamation allows timber sales approved before January 1, 2000, to move forward, and environmentalists are incensed that 30 million additional board feet of timber could still be cut, potentially harming the very trees the monument aims to preserve.

While the new monument offers a variety of hikes into magnificent groves, the Converse Basin in the northern section also serves as a reminder of the wasteful logging practices of a century ago. Mature sequoia timber is brittle, and the giant trees often shattered upon impact when felled. Less than half of the timber made it to the mills, and most of that ended up as matchsticks, shingles, or grapestakes.

In spite of the colossal waste, Converse Basin, once one of the world's largest sequoia groves, was logged between 1897 and 1907. No place is the carnage more evident than Stump Meadow, which today is both a beautiful and a haunting spot. Trickling creeks meander through the boggy expanse of green between the shattered trunks of fallen trees left to slowly rot where they landed. Great rust-colored stumps stand like tombstones.

More ironic, perhaps, is the nearby stump of the General Noble Tree, nicknamed the Chicago Stump after it was cut for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Too big to transport, the tree's bark was segmented, then reassembled for display Fairgoers thought it was a hoax.

Luckily, times change. With 38 ancient groves in the new monument now protected along with giant sequoias in the national parks, chances are better than ever that there will always be some living proof that trees this big do exist.

Giant Sequoia travel planner

Hiking weather in Giant Sequoia National Monument should remain good well into October. Area code is 559 unless noted.

Exploring the northern unit

Access is from State 180 east of Fresno. The Hume Lake Ranger District (338-2251) in Dunlap has maps; open 8-4:30 Monday-Saturday (Mon-Fri after Labor Day).

Converse Basin. All that remains from the largest tree ever cut is the Chicago Stump. From State 180 north of Grant Grove in Kings Canyon National Park, go past McGee Overlook, turn west on gravel Forest Road 13S03, and continue 2 miles to F.R. 13S66. Turn right to park at the trailhead.

To get to Stump Meadow from State 180, continue for 1.2 miles past the turnoff for Chicago Stump, then turn west onto gravel F.R. 13S55. Signs will direct you to the meadow.

The road ends 1/2 mile past the meadow at the Boole Tree trailhead. It's an easy, uphill mile to the world's third tallest tree.

Hiking the southern unit

To reach the monument's southern section, take State 190 east from Porterville. The Tule River Ranger District office (539-2607) in Springville is open 8-4:30 Monday-Saturday (8-4:30 Mon-Fri after October 1).

Freeman Creek Trail. You'll see most of the best trees by hiking 2 to 3 downhill miles--just remember that the climb back is steep. Trailhead is just north of Quaking Aspen Campground (about 10 miles east of Camp Nelson) on State 190. Take F.R. 21S50 to the first dirt road on your right, then bear left on F.R. 21S99A to the trailhead.

Trail of the 100 Giants. Wander through a moody grove of ancient sequoias on an easy 1/2-mile loop. Trailhead parking is 11 miles south of Ponderosa Lodge on Western Divide Hwy (a continuation of State 190).