Giant Hope ~ Sequoia National Forest

Here we were walking amongst giants in a grove of Sequoias . . . many of the biggest trees in the world.  Nothing can quite prepare you for the striking awe these massive trees bring.  Being the largest living things by volume, it’s indeed hard for the mind to wrap itself around such immensity.  Even while staring at it–gawking–it’s still as if you doubt the existence of what your eyes are observing.  Diameters average 20 feet, and they tower hundreds of feet above among the forest canopy at elevations between 3,000 and 8,500 feet.  And to top it off, these trees have been around for a few thousand years– amongst some of the oldest organisms on Earth. 

We continued along the trail on a cool morning, when in the near distance, there it was resting–an undeniable presence–appearing from out of the dewy day’s first-light, General Sherman, the world’s largest tree.  Its base circumference measures 101 feet, and it rises to 272 feet tall.  To put that into perspective, imagine looking up at an 11-story building.  That my friends, is mighty.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Here is the story of these living legends.  Like most creatures in the living world, producing an offspring is the inherent drive or purpose for which you were stemmed.  Created in order to sustain your population, the giant sequoias are no different and proliferate by securing an offspring.  This is how to flourish.  Of the numerous seeds contained in their coniferous cones, just one must find its way to life and endure.  Apt for the concurrent circumstances of birth and survival, it is just like in humans, how one single sperm from the semen of millions must swim its way to the egg under most perfect circumstances.  

Strange as it may seem, the giant sequoia thrives on fire, from whence it will relinquish its cones from high above, sending them scattering to the forest floor to be born.  The indigenous knew this and practiced controlled burnings to clear out forest brush in order for these trees to thrive.  The white man figured it out eventually.  With the right amount of water, and nutrients from the soil, these little seedlings stand a chance at blossoming life from within.  

The sequoias thick bark is mostly fire-resistant and is what enables them to withstand controlled burnings.  However, the unprecedented fires that burned around California’s Sierra Nevada range in 2020 from August to December wiped out 175,000 acres of parkland by the time it was finally contained.  The result was between 7,500-10,000 mature giant sequoias burned– which means 1/10^th of their population destroyed; and think about all the native wildlife affected.  These trees were benefitting the planet by absorbing carbon from the atmosphere at an unrivaled rate, and now they were gone.  I couldn’t help but think of the thousands of acres in the Amazon we were continually losing due to commercial farming and fracking.  We had lost a significant part of our world’s lungs.  2020 seemed to be consuming lives across populations.  As if it wasn’t challenging enough, 2020 held 5 of the six largest wildfires in California history.  What was going on around us?  So much beauty amongst the reality of devastation.  Weren’t these trees fire resistant?  They had survived centuries of burning, so what was the deal?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Climate change?  Regional and worldly temperatures have been rising, making it increasingly difficult for these trees to withstand stress responses.  Annual California droughts are quite normal, yet last year they’d been suffering an unprecedented one and the fires were of high-intensity.  Not only excessive drought, but in a weakened state, the sequoias become vulnerable to bark beetle attacks and sadly, die from them.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

With more agreeable conditions in and around the soil, the giant sequoias can survive and proliferate and all will exist more in a more balanced state.  It’s not rocket science and it’s not too much to ask for.  I can’t help but see all the irony, the paradoxes happening.  Resilient beings that have evolved and withstood thousands of years were now showing their defeat.  Fire resilient bark was now proving unsuitable armor.  The continual increase of carbon in our atmosphere and the need for more of its removal was being rivaled with more intoxicating fumes and less filtering.

We meandered on slowly through the ancient grove.  We were both silent.  The presence of these great sequoias had touched us.  I turned back for one last look at the beast of a tree.  My eyes traced the height of the tree upwards until I could see no more of its top.  Around its crown, were gaps in the forest canopy, and sunlight beamed through the open shape, surrendering to the morning’s still, colorless sky.  Grace seemed to shine through in stillness and in song.  The story of these giant trees must be told.  Maybe then, with greater awareness, more action can be taken individually and collectively and more can be done to help sustain them.  

Their legacy must live on.