People have not always understood the interactions in a sequoia forest. These young sequoias (Sequoiadendron giganteum) were planted in 1949. No sequoias had sprouted naturally in this area in over 50 years, because the park's caretakers had been "protecting" the grove by putting out all fires. Fire heats the cones of the sequoia, releasing the tree's oatmeal-sized seeds. It also clears the area below the tree of debris, which would prevent the seeds from sprouting, and of other plants, which would compete with the young trees for sunlight. Today, the Park Service intentionally sets fires in sequoia groves and elsewhere in the park to restore this natural process, and to reduce the accumulation of forest fuels that might otherwise feed unnaturally intense wildfires.
