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

Unto us a Child is born …

Fwd: News Release- Giant Sequoia Mortality Estimates Released for the 2021 KNP Complex and Windy Fire

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: 8550-2143 Giant Sequoia Mortality Estimates Released for the 2021 KNP Complex and Windy Fire SEQUOIA AND KINGS CANYON NATIONAL PARKS, Calif. November 19, 2021 – Land managers in the Southern Sierra Nevada are reckoning with the effects of large wildfires ignited by a significant lightning event in early September, including the KNP Complex, which burned mostly within Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, and the Windy Fire, which burned mostly on the Sequoia National Forest.   Findings from a recently compiled fire response plan estimate that across the footprints of the two fires, between 2,261 and 3,637 large giant sequoias (four feet or more in diameter) have either already been killed by fire or have been so severely burned that they are expected to die within the next three to five years. These losses make up approximately 3-5% of the world's population of large giant sequoias.   This assessment of impacts to giant sequoias comes from a report compiled by a Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) team and are drawn from analysis conducted by scientists from the Nature Conservancy and the National Park Service. These giant sequoia groves are located across lands administered by Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, Sequoia National Forest, Tule River Tribe, UC Berkeley, and Save the Redwoods League, all partners in the Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition, established earlier this year to collaborate on strategies to protect these threatened trees.  These 2021 losses are being quantified in the wake of 2020's highly destructive Castle Fire in the same region, which resulted in the mortality of 10-14% of the world's native population of large giant sequoias. After such devastating losses last year, there has been significant concern about the impacts of the 2021 fires.   These estimates include 1,330 – 2,380 trees within the KNP Complex footprint and 931 – 1,257 trees within the Windy Fire footprint. In total, 27 giant sequoia groves fall fully or partially within the perimeters of the fires. These estimates were calculated by comparing pre- and post-fire satellite imagery classified by fire severity, aerial reconnaissance, and on-the-ground assessments where possible.   While giant sequoias require periodic low-to-moderate intensity fire to maintain healthy ecology, a history of fire suppression across the American West has resulted in denser forests with high levels of fuel loading. In combination with hotter droughts driven by climate change, these conditions have changed how wildfire burns in the southern Sierra Nevada, resulting in large areas of high severity fire effects and massive fire events.  "The sobering reality is that we have seen another huge loss within a finite population of these iconic trees that are irreplaceable in many lifetimes," says Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks Superintendent Clay Jordan. "As we navigate the complex process of restoring access to the parks, we will continue to work diligently with our partners in the Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition to become ever-better stewards of these incredibly special places, despite the enormous challenges we face."  Some key areas, such as the Giant Forest in Sequoia National Park, experienced reduced fire severity, due in large part to a history of prescribed burning. As this year's wildfires approached sequoia groves, firefighters deployed new tactics that reduced losses to these trees from high severity fire. Many areas within the fire footprints burned at low to moderate severity, and some areas did not burn at all.   To view the executive summary of the impacts of the 2021 fire season on giant sequoias, read the full report of these findings as extracted from the response plan, or find more information and resources about emerging threats to giant sequoias, visit www.nps.gov/seki/learn/gslc.htm. A media kit with contacts for all Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition partners, photo galleries, fact sheets, and more is also provided on this site.  An NPS employee and a journalist explore an area of Redwood Canyon that burned at high intensity during the KNP complex. NPS/Daniel Jeffcoach  - 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

Memorial Service for Kris Yates Conrad

                   A Celebration of Life

Kristine (Kris) Conrad

September 20, 1958 – October 1, 2021

Kris wanted a small intimate service with her close family. However, there were many people in her life she cared about and that cared for her. So she asked that we video the service so her friends, family and people who couldn’t travel could be a part of the celebration.

The link will be live on Saturday, November 27^th at 11:30 am. It can also be viewed after this time. The link is private so only people with the link can view the livestream. Please share this link with any friends or family who might not have received this notice. Thank you.

Please go to: https://youtu.be/5bEZekS0UFI

Images of Home, a Solo Art Show

cabinart posted: " "Solo art show" sounds weird unless you are an artist. Artists are honored when they get asked to show all by themselves. We often participate in group shows where there is very little pressure. We don't even always attend the opening receptions, because" New post on Cabin Art Images of Home, a Solo Art Show by cabinart "Solo art show" sounds weird unless you are an artist. Artists are honored when they get asked to show all by themselves. We often participate in group shows where there is very little pressure. We don't even always attend the opening receptions, because there is a sense of not really mattering very much. (Okay, that might just be those introverts who prefer to be at home pulling weeds, not that we know any artists like that.) Additional Details The Courthouse Gallery has a webpage. THIS is the link. There is an article in the Visalia Times-Delta. THIS is the link. (You might have to have a subscription). The article will appear in today's print edition. The Mineral King District Association also has it, no subscription necessary. The gallery's regular hours are Saturdays and Sundays, noon - 4. I will be at the gallery on four Fridays from 11-3, oil painting with some friends: November 26, December 3, 10, and 17th. Feel free to stop by! Other Merchandise In addition to the original pencil drawings and oil paintings, there will be notecards, 2022 calendars, Heart of the County coloring books, Mineral King Wildflowers and The Cabins of Wilsonia books. AND SNACKS AND TREATS, MAYBE EVEN WINE (only on Sunday at the reception!) (I don't care about wine, but you might).