69 



them. I probably would not be allowed to. My experience is mostly 

 in aquatic, and I'm concerned about the erosion. 



Mr. CONDIT. OK. And then we'll take Mr. Keene when we come 

 back. 



I just want to tell you, I apologize. We have a vote going on. We 

 have about 4 minutes to vote. 



Someone will come back and chair the meeting. I apologize for 

 the confusion. 



[Recess taken.] 



Mr. Brown [assuming chair]. In order to continue the hearing 

 and try and finish it before midnight, or some other unreasonable 

 hour, I would like to continue with where we left off. 



I understand that Mr. Gasser was about to testify. Is that cor- 

 rect? 



Mr. Gasser. I believe so. 



Mr. Brown. All right. In that case, let's continue with you, Mr. 

 Gasser. 



STATEMENT OF DONALD P. GASSER, LECTURER AND 

 SPECIALIST, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-BERKELEY 



Mr. Gasser. Thank you. I'm Don Gasser. I'm a lecturer and spe- 

 cialist at the University of California at Berkeley. I appreciate the 

 opportunity to be here today. 



I would like to describe a small forest to you, Whitaker's Forest 

 owned by the University of California, which is only 320 acres, ad- 

 jacent to Kings Canyon National Park, but it is the site upon which 

 much work has gone on that has increased our understanding of 

 giant sequoia ecosystems. 



For instance, the initial work on controlled burning that led to 

 our understanding of the role of fire in giant sequoia forests was 

 done at Whitaker's Forest, and the subsequent let-bum policy of 

 the National Park System was developed from work in these envi- 

 rons. We have the oldest measured growth plots in California, first 

 measured in 1914. 



And so I would like to tell you the tale of two stands. The first 

 stand I want to tell you about regenerated from a fire in 1875 into 

 pure giant sequoias. That stand started with over 500 trees per 

 acre, and now has about 200 trees per acre, with the other 300 that 

 have died of natural causes, creating both fgillen and standing 

 dead. 



And here is a picture of that site. Would you like me to pass this 

 to you? 



[Photographs displayed.] 



Mr. Brown. Yes. 



Mr. Gasser. This stand, as you will see, is in serious danger of 

 catastrophic wild fire. It has little aesthetic appeal. It is difficult 

 to walk through. It is dark in the middle of the day, and has no 

 understory vegetation. 



There is a similar stand down the hill from this, also regenerated 

 in 1875. But it was in this second site that the fire started, because 

 it was a slash fire, following clear cutting. 



This area has been manipulated and managed, and after a vir- 

 tual clearcutting, it regenerated strongly in giant sequoia. It was 



