Mineral King Road Update

From Glenn Cunningham, WMK-16 "Wood Shed" and faithful keeper of the Mineral King Webcam (http://www.mk-webcam.net):

As you may know, I have been participating in the monthly coordination meetings between the  MKDA, the MKPS and the Park.

At the March 16 meeting, Dave Fox, the Sequoia District Ranger, indicated that the Park would be addressing the MK road condition as the weather and their staffing levels permit.  There have been reported debris flows across the road in several locations and a couple of downed trees.

The Park's main focus of late has been in getting the General's Highway open to Grant Grove and servicing the infrastructure at Lodgepole.  Big rocks buried in the snow have damaged their road working equipment delay some road work.

There are also every two week informational briefings for the local merchants and other nearby the Park stakeholders that Lisa Monteiro (MKPS) and I participate in.  I will let you know of any significant information that comes from those events.

Be well

Glenn

Generals Highway Opens Today

 

Winter Use at Mineral King

From our SEKI representative regarding winter use in the Mineral King Valley: 

Mineral King is now open for normal winter use. For the public (including cabin owners), this means that a recreation permit ($35/week or annual pass) is needed to access MK Valley trailheads and go hiking, skiing, snow shoeing, swimming, etc. (i.e., to recreate in MK). Access to cabins: 

The SUP cabin owners have with their NPS permits the right to access their cabins but it is not equivalent to the recreation permit. When at their cabins, no recreation permit is needed.

Photo by Michael Botkin

SEKI Seeking Input

 

National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks News Release

For Immediate Release                                Contact: Sintia Kawasaki-Yee, Chief of Communications Phone: (559) 679-2866 Email: sintia_kawasaki-yee@nps.gov

Reference Number: 8550-2202

National Park Service Requests Public Input on Project to Plant Giant Sequoia Seedlings in Area Burned at High Severity in the 2020 Castle Fire within Sequoia National Park

SEQUOIA AND KINGS CANYON NATIONAL PARKS, Calif. February 22, 2022 – The National Park Service (NPS) is seeking public comment on a project to plant seedlings of giant sequoia within groves that sustained a significant loss of trees and their associated seeds and cones during the 2020 Castle Fire in Sequoia National Park.   The 2020 Castle Fire burned through 22 giant sequoia groves and burned 9.7% of the entire range of giant sequoias at high severity. In particular, three giant sequoia groves within Sequoia National Park: Board Camp, Upper Dillonwood, and Homer’s Nose sustained contiguous acres of high severity fire which removed 75-100% of the overstory tree cover and killed a significant amount of monarch sequoia trees. The grove most heavily impacted was Board Camp Grove, a 48-acre grove of giant sequoia mixed conifer forest in steep remote wilderness within Sequoia National Park. Due to the loss of mature overstory sequoia trees in this grove and the short dispersal distance of sequoia seeds (600 feet), the NPS believes Board Camp Grove has a very low likelihood of recovering giant sequoia tree cover without management intervention.   In order to give sequoias the opportunity to re-establish to a similar density within these centuries-old groves, the NPS is proposing to plant sequoia seedlings in Board Camp Grove as a pilot project in fall 2022. While most of these seedlings would be grown from sequoia cones collected from Board Camp and nearby groves, a small number of seedlings from seed collections held by a United States Forest Service nursery in Placerville would be planted in a select area to test for potential benefits of including drought-adapted sequoia seedlings.   The proposed action includes growing sequoia seedlings from collected seed, transporting the seedlings to the remote Board Camp Grove via helicopter, and planting 12,000 sequoia seedlings in the fall, just prior to winter precipitation. Given the location, roughly seven miles off-trail in remote wilderness, watering and post-planting care is not planned at this time. Seedlings would be monitored for percent of survivorship the following fall, and if deemed successful, the NPS would consider planting additional seedlings the following year. The NPS anticipates that planting would occur in October 2022 and may occur again in 2023.   To obtain supplemental information about the proposed project, or to provide comments, please visit the NPS Planning, Environment and Public Comment (PEPC) website at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/SEKIBoardCampSequoiaRestoration2022.    Written comments may be sent via mail or hand-delivery to:   Superintendent Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks Attn: Board Camp Restoration Project 47050 Generals Highway Three Rivers, CA 93271   All written comments about this project must be transmitted, postmarked, or hand-delivered by March 25, 2022. Comments that provide insights about the current proposed action and potential mitigations are particularly helpful.   Interested parties can also participate in a virtual public Teams Live meeting on Tuesday, March 1, 2022 at 4:00 p.m. PST. For additional information about the virtual meeting visit the PEPC project website listed above.   Following the public comment period, the NPS will analyze and consider all feedback, will modify and evaluate the proposed action as appropriate, and will move toward finalizing environmental reviews in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, and other applicable laws and policies.   If you have any specific questions regarding this proposal, please contact Elly Boerke, Environmental Protection Specialist, at (559) 579-0046.

An aerial image of Board Camp in Sequoia National Park, taken from a helicopter, reveals a forest stand that burned at high intensity during the 2020 Castle Fire, resulting in 100% tree mortality in places. NPS Photo

- NPS -

Stuart Bates (1925-2021)

Hello, all. I hope the holidays are treating you well. I just wanted to let you know that my dad passed away on Friday, November 17. He was playing tennis three weeks ago, broke a few ribs, and things went downhill from there. He was 96. 

He loved Mineral King! In 1925 his father, Dr. Bell, and a few others from CalTech and the Pasadena area, grabbed the opportunity to lease land in Mineral King and Faculty Flats was born. When my dad was little it took three days from their home in Pasadena to get to Mineral King: one day to Bakersfield, one day to the bottom of the hill, and the last long day up the winding 25 miles stopping at the radiator basins all the way.

There are just too many stories to tell all in one place, but cabin 15 meant it was summer, It meant time with my dad swimming in the stream, taking a hike, and yes fixing a thing or two around the house. I am so glad that we were able to get him up there the past few years. These are precious memories.

Best,

Ellen

News Release- KNP Complex Fire Declared 100% Contained

National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks News Release For Immediate Release                                Contact: Rebecca Paterson, Public Affairs Specialist Phone: (559) 702-3400 Email: seki_public_affairs@nps.gov   Reference Number: 8550-2146 KNP Complex Fire Declared 100% Contained  SEQUOIA AND KINGS CANYON NATIONAL PARKS, Calif. December 17, 2021 – Fire management staff at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks declared the KNP Complex Fire 100% contained on the afternoon of December 16, 2021. The KNP Complex is currently measured at 88,307 acres, most of which fall within Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. While the fire has not grown in recent weeks, it has continued to show activity in remote areas. Significant precipitation events across the Sierra Nevada have prompted fire managers to declare the fire fully contained at this time.   The KNP Complex was ignited by a large lightning event on the night of September 9, 2021. Despite immediate and aggressive suppression efforts, the two fires that initially comprised the complex merged in the coming days and burned rapidly through a large area of Sequoia National Park, and into Kings Canyon National Park, Sequoia National Forest, Bureau of Land Management lands, and lands under tribal, state, county, and private jurisdiction. This fire evacuated many communities, closed public lands, and ultimately killed approximately 3-5% of the world's population of mature giant sequoias.   Total containment means that the fire's perimeter is considered secure, and no further growth is expected. This differs from the fire being declared "out." Fire can become established in heavy fuels, such as large, downed trees, and may smolder there through multiple heavy snow and rain events, or even all winter, and become active again after the area dries out. Therefore, it may be a matter of months or longer before the KNP Complex is officially declared out.   "We hope that total containment on the KNP Complex is a comfort not only to local communities, but to people everywhere who care about the parks," said Leif Mathiesen, Assistant Fire Management Officer for Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. "While the onset of winter weather was the push we needed to reach full containment, it's thanks to the incredible work of literally thousands of firefighting personnel that we were able to protect and save what we did. We're very grateful to a lot of people."   Significant hazards from the KNP Complex remain in many areas of the parks, some of which will not be fully assessed or mitigated until at least the spring of 2022. National Park Service employees are working hard to reopen areas to public access as it is possible and responsible to do so. For regularly updated information on what areas and services are accessible, visit go.nps.gov/sekiconditions.   The KNP Complex Fire has been declared 100% contained as of December 16, 2021.  - NPS - About Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks These two parks, which lie side by side in the southern Sierra Nevada in Central California, preserve prime examples of nature's size, beauty, and diversity. Nearly 2 million visitors from across the U.S. and the world visit these parks to see the world's largest trees (by volume), grand mountains, rugged foothills, deep canyons, vast caverns, the highest point in the lower 48 states, and more. Learn more at http://www.nps.gov/seki. - ### - Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks  47050 Generals Highway Three Rivers, CA 93271 559-565-3341 | www.nps.gov/seki STAY CONNECTED ‌ ‌ ‌

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks | 47050 Generals Highway, Three Rivers, CA 93271

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