(TNS) — Two historic giant sequoias were damaged in a prescribed burn last fall at Calaveras Big Trees State Park — and one of them may not survive, park officials and tree enthusiasts agree.
The trees, known as The Orphans, are estimated to be at least 500 years old, with one possibly twice that age, said John Buckley, executive director of the Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center. The older of the two monarch sequoias, Buckley said after visiting the burn site, “has a high risk of dying.”
He added, “One of the trees has a fairly high chance of survival because it still has green canopy crown and suffered less of a loss of the needles that are so essential for the tree to be able to take in sunlight and photosynthesis.”
California Department of Parks and Recreation officials said the damage was discovered when part of the park reopened after winter closures.
Prescribed burn when it was ‘Incredibly bone dry’
In October, California State Parks conducted a prescribed burn in the North Grove area of the park.
Prescribed burns are done to help reduce wildfire risk and promote giant sequoia regeneration, the department said in a statement.
After the Walter W. Smith Memorial Parkway reopened from winter closure, the department said one of the two trees was found to have sufferedsignificant scorch within the prescribed burn perimeter.
Kristen Shive, a fire ecologist and assistant professor at UC Berkeley, did not see The Orphans in person, but saw photos of them and said it looks like the crown damage was the result of heat from fire on the forest floor and from fire that consumed a neighboring non-sequoia tree.
“In general, that’s what brown needles mean,” Shive said. “If fire was engulfing the crown, then most of the needles would be consumed.”
Buckley, who served as a Stanislaus National Forest wildland firefighter for 13 years, said he talked to fire crews and understands that part of the reason for The Orphans being damaged is that it was the third year of drought in the area.
“The fuels were so incredibly bone dry and the trees had less moisture to resist heating and to be resilient from being slightly scorched or damaged,” Buckley said. “Those extreme drought conditions last year are probably the key reason why what was otherwise normal burning ended up, in this case, being more than those two trees could easily accept.”