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Redwoods Young & Old, Big & Tall Click on the picture for a larger view (pictures open in new window) |
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When
the first white man to see a giant sequoia reported his find, he was
greeted with disbelief. But the existence of the trees was soon verified
and they became a well known tourist attraction.
Naturally there were those who saw lumber and money where others saw a
precious treasure to be preserved. Both views had their day, with a
moderate amount of logging in the small northern groves in the central
Sierra Nevada, and a great deal
in the larger and more numerous southern groves. Most notably was the
Converse Basin, adjacent to what is now Kings Canyon National Park, where
in excess of 3,000 trees were
cut. The giant trees of the Sierra are properly called
sequoias (sequoiadendron
giganteum). Equally well known in California are the coast redwoods
(sequoia sempervirens), which are taller but do not match their cousins in
overall size or age. |
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The sequoia redwoods are highly brittle, and many shattered when they fell. Independent woodsmen often salvaged parts of these chunks by cutting shingles and posts from them. Like the coast redwoods, sequoias resist rot and the remaining wood of this tree is still as solid as the day it fell over a hundred years ago. |
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They
are scattered by the thousands along the western slope of the costal
mountains from extreme southern Oregon to the Big Sur country south of
Monterey. Coastal fog and winter storms provide a damp environment the
year around for these trees, while the sequoias flourish around the 5,000
foot elevation level with dry summers and snowy winters.
The tallest known coast redwood stands more than 365 feet, and hundreds
reach the 300 foot mark. Some of the tallest are only 400 to 800 years
old, and could reach even greater heights with another five to ten
centuries of growth. The largest redwoods reach 20 feet in diameter at chest height,
but the average is under 10 feet. The sequoias have the greatest total bulk of any tree in the world. The
General Sherman in Sequoia National Park has long held the title of the
largest, at 275 feet in height and a diameter of 30 feet at chest level. The
volume is estimated at 50,000 cubic feet. But detailed measurements are
difficult and a number of other trees are very close. These are vigorously
growing trees as well, so the leader may well be overtaken by a challenger
as the years pass. The oldest known coast redwood was cut in 1934 at the age of 2,200
years. However, most are under 2,000 and the average age of old-growth
redwoods is 500 to 700 years. The sequoias of the Sierra reach much
greater age; the oldest authenticated age of a downed tree is about 3,200
years. One of the largest, the Grizzly Giant in Yosemite, is 2,700 years
old, and a number of the biggest trees appear to be 1,500 to 2,000 years
old. These are not the oldest trees in the world; that honor goes to the
much smaller bristlecone pines in eastern California’s White Mountains,
where trees as old as 4,600 years are found. A sequoia buried in a meadow
in the Sierra has been carbon dated to 10,000 years ago, but of course,
its age when it fell is unknown. It is a rare individual who is not awed by the sight of a giant
redwood. The famed naturalist John Muir wrote,
"There is something wonderfully attractive in this king tree, even
when beheld from afar, that draws us to it with indescribable enthusiasm;
its superior height and massive smoothly rounded outlines proclaiming its
character in any company; and when one of the oldest attains full stature
on some commanding ridge it seems to be the very god of the woods."
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Young sequoias, the largest about 15 feet tall |
An ancient dead snag was once a proud giant like the tree in the background. |
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