• Giant Sequoia Trees

    Sequoia & Kings Canyon

    National Parks California

  • Road Construction Delays in Sequoia NP through Mid-Aug. (if entering/exiting via Hwy. 198)

    Expect 20-minute to 1-hour delays on weekdays and 20-minute delays on weekends along main road through parks. Weeknight closures with one pass through the construction zone at 11:30 p.m. See link to schedule and map or call 559-565-3341 (press 1, 1, 1,). More »

  • 22-foot Vehicle Length Limit in Sequoia National Park

    Planning to see the "Big Trees" in Sequoia National Park? If you enter/exit via Hwy. 198, all vehicles must be less than 22 feet in length. Even vehicles towing trailers must be less than 22 feet in combined length. Longer vehicles must enter at Hwy. 180. More »

  • Road Conditions in the Parks

    For the latest road and weather conditions, call 559-565-3341 (press 1, 1, 1) More »

Giant Sequoia Fire History in Mariposa Grove Abstract

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.

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Did You Know?

Low fire burns through a grove during a prescribed burn.

Fire is an essential part of Sierra forest ecology. Plants and animals have adapted to the periodic, low-intensity fires that naturally occur here. In fact, sequoias need fire to open their cones and release the seeds, and to leave cleared beds of ash where they sprout and grow best.