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Changes to Some Opening/Closing Dates for Services and Facilities – Check Back for Updates
Some of the opening/closing dates for facilities and visitor services in the parks have changed due to weather and/or other circumstances. See link for details and match to locations on the park map (under "Park Tools," bottom left, this page). More »
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Road Conditions (Entire Park) and Road Construction Delays (if Entering/Exiting Hwy. 198)
Expect 20-minute to 1-hour construction delays on main road through parks (Generals Hwy) until Memorial Day weekend (7 a.m.-6 p.m.). See link for schedule. Call for 24-hour road conditions info: 559-565-3341 (press 1, 1, 1). More »
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Vehicle Length Limits Have Changed in Sequoia NP (if Entering/Exiting Hwy 198)
Planning to see the "Big Trees" in Sequoia National Park? If you enter/exit via Hwy. 198, please pay close attention to new vehicle length advisories for your safety and the safety of others. More »
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You May Have Trouble Calling Us. Use the "Contact Us" Link (Bottom Left) to Send an E-mail.
We are experiencing technical problems receiving some incoming phone calls at the parks. We apologize for the inconvenience. Please keep trying to reach us or check this website for frequently-asked questions. The search box (top, right) may be helpful.
Giant Sequoia Fire History in Mariposa Grove Abstract
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Giant Sequoia Fire History in Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park. T.W. Swetnam, R. Touchan, C.H. Baisan, A.C. Caprio, and P.M. Brown. 1991. pp. 249-253. Yosemite Centennial Symposium Proceedings - A Global Issues Symposium Joining the 17th Annual Natural Areas Conferene with the Yosemite Centennial Celebration Oct. 13-20, 1990. 667 pp. ABSTRACT - We reconstructed a 1,438-year history of wildfire in the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoia Sequoiadendron giganteum. Partial cross sections were taken from 18 dead fire-scarred trees, and tree rings and fire scars were dated. The resulting master fire chronology shows that fires recurred at intervals ranging from 1 to 15 years. Changes in fire frequency on time scales of centuries are also apparent. This fire history documents the long-term importance of fire in sequoia-mixed conifer ecosystems and illustrates the temporal variability of fire regimes. |
Did You Know?
When first set aside, what is now Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks were less than one-ninth of their present size. Over the last century, Congress has made seven major additions to the parks — the last being the Mineral King area in 1978.