Sequoia National Forest

10 Stories

World's Largest Tree Passes Health Check

Giant sequoia 'seems to be a very healthy tree that's able to fend off any beetle attack'

(Newser) - High in the evergreen canopy of General Sherman, the world's largest tree, researchers searched for evidence of an emerging threat to giant sequoias: bark beetles. The climbers descended the towering 2,200-year-old California tree with good news this week, the AP reports. The General Sherman tree is doing fine...

Thousands of Sequoias Must Be Chopped Down

Trees pose danger after California wildfires

(Newser) - Thousands of California's famed giant sequoias are doomed in the wake of devastating wildfires that have swept the Sierra Nevada. Per ABC News , upwards of 10,000 of the trees, which can reach 275 feet and live for 3,000 years or more, must be culled for safety reasons....

Calif. Wildfires Deliver a 'Heartbreaking' Loss

Hundreds of giant sequoias are believed to have burned

(Newser) - Northern California wildfires may have killed hundreds of giant sequoias as they swept through groves of the majestic monarchs in the Sierra Nevada, an official said Wednesday. "It's heartbreaking," Christy Brigham, head of resources management and science for Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks, told the AP...

California's Massive, Ancient Trees Again in Danger

Wildfires bear down on giant sequoias

(Newser) - Some of the largest trees on the planet are in danger as wildfires rage in Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks in California. Some of the sequoia trees in the Giant Forest area were being wrapped with fire-resistant aluminum material Thursday, the Los Angeles Times reports. The area around some...

Hiker Injured Trying to Stop Man's 500-Foot Plunge

Both fell, but one survived by catching a ledge 30 feet below at Sequoia National Park

(Newser) - A California hiker survived a 30-foot fall Monday after trying to stop a companion from plunging off a mountain ridge in Sequoia National Park. Rescue crews were able to pull the woman, 45, to safety from a ledge, but the man she was trying to save fell 500 feet to...

For Half a Century, This Photo Was Impossible
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Jul 12, 2020 6:44 AM CDT

For Half a Century, This Photo Was Impossible

California condors have finally returned to Sequoia National Park

(Newser) - Sequoia National Park is celebrating "an important milestone": the return of California condors for the first time in almost 50 years. The largest land bird in North America long ago occupied the Sierra Nevada mountains, where giant sequoia trees provided ideal cavities for nests. But there were only 22...

Man Allegedly Graffitied Over Prehistoric Rock Carving

He reportedly claims he was drunk and wanted revenge on his boss

(Newser) - Authorities say a man recently sprayed graffiti on a prehistoric rock carving of a bighorn sheep in California's Sequoia National Forest. Prosecutors say 58-year-old Christopher Harp sprayed a black substance on several large rocks, including one depicting a bighorn sheep. Special Agent Brian Adams with the US Forest Service...

Monster Sequoia Falls: Now What?

California's Sequoia National Forest ponders next move

(Newser) - It is the mother of all roadblocks, or in this case a path-block. California's Sequoia National Forest is trying to figure what to do after a 1,500-year-old giant tree (actually a pair of trees fused at the base) crashed down on a forest trailway, reports the Los Angeles ...

Mexican Cartels Growing Pot in US National Park

Plants worth hundreds of millions thriving amid Sequoias

(Newser) - Mexican drug cartels are growing hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of marijuana in the thick of California’s Sequoia National Forest, CNN reports. Hours on foot from the nearest road, pot gardens flourish with as many as 10,000 plants, irrigation systems created by daming mountain creeks, and their...

Big Sur Evacuated as Fires Rage

680 square miles scorched by wildfires

(Newser) - California residents have been ordered to evacuate the coastal resort Big Sur as wildfires rage in the hills above the town, USA Today reports. Ash rained on people as they packed cars before fleeing to safety. The Big Sur blaze is one of more than 1,100 wildfires in the...

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