Giant Sequoias Are Burning. Should We Replant Them?
The California Report Magazine18 Aug 2023

Giant Sequoias Are Burning. Should We Replant Them?

When the Castle Fire started burning in August of 2020, it ripped through Sequoia National Park, burning for months and with an intensity that has become increasingly normal during wildfire season. Just one year later, the KNP Complex fire devastated this same region. Together, these two massive fires burned grove after grove of giant sequoias, thousands of the largest trees on earth. Trees found only in California. Sequoias are adapted to fire, but decades of fire suppression and hotter, drier conditions from human-caused climate change have led to infernos that even these magnificent trees can’t weather. Since 2020, up to one fifth of the state’s sequoias have died from severe fire. Sometimes, the cones that hold their seeds have been incinerated too. Some scientists are worried there will be no sequoias in Sequoia National Park in the future. Now, national park scientists are proposing a plan to harvest surviving sequoia seeds, nurture them into seedlings in a protected environment, and then replant them in the wilderness. But critics say that proposal goes against the very definition of wilderness. At the heart of this debate are some big questions: What is natural? And how much should humans intervene? KALW reporter Marissa Ortega-Welch explores both sides of the issue while hiking out to see the damage done to a sequoia grove in the middle of a wilderness area in the national parks. This story was brought to us by KALW Public Radio, and made possible with support from California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episoder(426)

Families Pulling Together to Confront Life’s Obstacles

Families Pulling Together to Confront Life’s Obstacles

'Surrogate Family’ Supports Migrant Mom, How Did Raymond Mata in a Mass Grave, Attack of the Nutria, Saying Goodbye to Paradise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1 Des 201830min

17andMe

17andMe

Daley Dunham was a junior at UC Berkeley when he decided to donate sperm. He likened it to donating blood — an opportunity to do something good for a person in need. Except when you donate blood, you don’t get a tidal wave of children crashing into your life 20 years later. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

24 Nov 201831min

Do You Really Want to Know? One Man’s Search for Family From Jonestown and Beyond

Do You Really Want to Know? One Man’s Search for Family From Jonestown and Beyond

Forty years ago, preacher Jim Jones ordered hundreds of his followers to drink cyanide-laced punch. One man unravels the tangled family history that binds him to that tragedy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

17 Nov 201830min

Veterans Day Special: Californians and The Vietnam War

Veterans Day Special: Californians and The Vietnam War

‘The Green Machine’, ‘Ode to a Vietnam Vet’ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

10 Nov 201830min

Women Finding Their Political Voice

Women Finding Their Political Voice

First Time Candidates Reflect on ‘The Long Run’, Millennial and Retiree Candidates Swap Advice, Hotel Workers Push for ‘Panic Buttons’, Golden State Plate: The Martini Story, Straight Up, With a Twist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2 Nov 20182min

Spooky Tales of Ghosts and California History

Spooky Tales of Ghosts and California History

The Ghost of Mary Pleasant, Haunted Lighthouse, Fishy Origins of Cioppino, An Orphan’s California Dream Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

27 Okt 201830min

SPECIAL: Her Double Life

SPECIAL: Her Double Life

A San Jose woman wonders if it's time to tell the truth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

19 Okt 201831min

One Year After Firestorm, Some Scars, Some Hope

One Year After Firestorm, Some Scars, Some Hope

Caregivers Save Lives But Lose Everything, KPFZ: Lake County’s Wildfire Lifeline, ‘A Little Broken,’ Fire Baby Turns One Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

12 Okt 201830min

Populært innen Politikk og nyheter

giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
forklart
aftenpodden-usa
stopp-verden
popradet
fotballpodden-2
nokon-ma-ga
dine-penger-pengeradet
det-store-bildet
rss-dannet-uten-piano
frokostshowet-pa-p5
aftenbla-bla
rss-ness
bt-dokumentar-2
rss-penger-polser-og-politikk
e24-podden
rss-borsmorgen-okonominyhetene
rss-gukild-johaug
ukrainapodden