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Human Impact
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Recreational Vehicles clog the Sentinel Tree Area
in front of the former Giant Forest Market.
© NPS photo.
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Quality of Visitor Experience
A visitor’s initial experience in the developed portion of the
Giant Forest wasn’t always positive. After a long drive from
the foothills up a tortuous road, a visitor might have to fight
for a parking space amongst the traffic congestion in the Giant
Forest Village. Upon emerging from the car, the visitor was
presented with a market, gift shops, and cafeteria, but had
only a tiny kiosk staffed with a single ranger from which to
obtain information about giant sequoias or opportunities for
hiking. The most prominent monarch tree, the Sentinel Tree, was
surrounded by asphalt. It was often noisy and crowded, and the
surrounding scenery was obstructed by a haphazard arrangement
of cabins and motel units. A visitor might then return to the
car and drive to see the world’s largest tree, the General
Sherman Tree. If the visitor were able to find a space in that
crowded parking lot, he or she would still have to cross the
entrance road before approaching the Sherman Tree.
National parks are often valued for an atmosphere of peace and
tranquility, and visitor activities that provide a direct
association or interaction with park resources are encouraged.
The typical Giant Forest Village experience was far from
tranquil, and visitor-use facilities did not encourage
interaction with park resources or offer a significant
opportunity to learn about sequoias within Giant Forest. There
were also limited opportunities for people with disabilities.
More fundamentally, the commercial Giant Forest Village complex
communicated to visitors that sequoias were here primarily for
human entertainment. National parks are places where people can
come to enjoy and learn about geologic formations and life
forms much more ancient and massive than our own. That the
health and longevity of these trees were subordinated to our
entertainment conflicts with the respect we owe to these giant
trees that are older than, and may yet outlive, modern
civilization.
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