California: Nurturing giant sequoias

San Francisco Chronicle

07/31/05

Here, in the bastion of the largest trees on Earth, it's easy to understand the meaning of the word 'insignificant': You simply stand at the base of a mature giant sequoia. It is an experience that is simultaneously humbling and transcendent. Wildland managers understand the effect these great trees exert, and agree they must be protected -- but sharply contested differences have emerged about the best way to accomplish that goal. There are about 38,000 acres of giant sequoias, distributed in scattered groves along the western slope of the Sierra. Though not as tall as their cousins, the coast redwoods, giant sequoias are much more massive, sometimes attaining trunk diameters of 30 feet...

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Informant: Thomas L. Knapp