A Book Review of A Guide to the Sequoia Groves of California by Dwight Willard

by Herb Childs, Acquisitions Librarian
From The Stereopticon, Views from the Mechanic's Institute Library, Vol. 1 No. 5, May 2001

One of California's most unusual attractions is Sequoia Gigantea, the giant sequoia, or giant redwood (as distinct from Sequoia Sempervirens, the coast redwood) which grows in a very limited range in the high Sierra. Willard's book clears away several misconceptions about the trees. The first is that they only grow in the National Parks (Sequoia, Kings Canyon, and Yosemite) and most of the trees can be viewed from the main roads. In fact, most of the sequoias grow outside the parks, in National Forest land (with a few on private land), and many of the 67 separately named groves must be reached by trails or primitive dirt roads. The second is that they are endangered. Although many sections were logged in the last century, and a few as recently as the 1950s, the majority of old growth sequoias remain and are quick to regenerate in areas where they were cut. Forest Service policy now is to protect all sequoias from cutting, although they allow logging of other conifers in sequoia areas. In the parks, they are given the benefit of controlled burns, and careful regulation of traffic. In all, the sequoias are holding their ground quite well.

Most of the sequoia groves are concentrated in the southern Sierra, but the northernmost is in Placer County, due west from Lake Tahoe. The true giants are generally defined as 20 feet or more in diameter at chest height; the General Sherman Tree is 21.6 feet at 16 feet above the ground and a volume of 52,500 cubic feet, but there are individuals approaching "giant" status to be found in most of the groves (as well as stumps and snags of even larger trees). Sequoias and redwoods are notoriously hard to photograph, but this book contains many excellent, if small, color photos. It could use a few more maps, but the directions for finding and exploring each grove are fairly clear. Many of the finest groves are accessible only by arduous cross-country hiking, ensuring that they will have very infrequent human visitation. This excellent book provides a description of the sequoias in their natural habitats, and clear directions for making some very enjoyable trips to explore this underappreciated resource.