172 



House of Represenuuives Subcommittee on Specialty Crops and Natural Resources 



Committee on Agriculture 



March 9, 1994; Longwoith House Office Building, Washington. D. C 



H.R. 2153: Giant Sequoia Preservation Act of 1993 



Testimony of Donald P. Gasser, University of California at Berkeley 



I am a forester en^loycd as a lecturer and a ^)ecialist at the University of California at 

 Beikeley. I am the manager of fewest propeities. and in that capacity am re^xMisible for 

 Whitakcr's Forest, a 320-acre prcq)erty which was gifted to the University in 1910. Only 

 four miles from Grant Grove in Kings Canycn National Park, Whitakcr's Forest is a site 

 that has contributed much to our understanding of giant sequoia ecosystems. Knowledge 

 gained through decades of experiments and research has flourished into books and 

 pamphlets that are now used throughout the range of giant sequoia, and read throughout tlie 

 world by those interested in the species. 



The initial work on controlled burning that led our understanding of the role of fire in giant 

 sequoia forests was done here by Harold Biswell. The subsequent let-binn pdicy of the 

 National Park System was developed firom work in these envircHis. 



I would like to describe Whitaker's Forest a litde more fully, because it is instructive in 

 understanding the biology and ecology of giant sequoia. Through tree ring analysis, 

 vegetation measurement, and written record, we have ascertained the history of this fcxest. 

 which burned numerable times, naturally as well as by Native American activity, with the 

 last large fire in about 1875. Due to the open conditions following this fire, regcncrati(» 

 was prolific. Successful fire suppression has kept out any return of wildfire. 



Whitaker's Forest has the oldest measured fcxest growth plots in California, first measured 

 in 1914. Height and diameter of each tree on these plots were measured, arid these have 

 been repeated every decade, with the last in 1992. 



The first site has never been manipulated, but regenerated into pure giant sequoia following 

 the 1875 fire. A picture of this site, taken in 1992, shows what has developed in the eighty 

 years since its original measuremenL This stand started with over five hundred trees per 

 acre and now has two hundred trees per acre. The other three hundred trees have died of 

 natural causes, and are both fallen and standing dead. As the picture shows, this is a stand 

 in serious danger of catastrophic wildfire. It h^ littie aesthetic appeal, is difficult to walk 

 through, is dark in the middle of the day, and has no understory vegetation. Despite the 

 darkness, the overstory canopy is thin and in poor physiological condition. Figure one 

 graphically shows the decline in the numbers of trees throu^ natural suppression and 

 mortality that has occurred in the eighty years of measurement Average diameter in 1992 

 was 16.6 inches, and average height, 86 feet 



The second site has a similar stand history with strong regeneration following fire, but has 

 been manipulated and managed. This is the area fix)m which the last fire on the forest 

 originated, and this 1875 fire was the result of burning the logging slash in an area that was 

 virtually clearcut of large giant sequoia trees. This stand was thinned in 1948, and thinned 

 again in 1964. It was prescribed bumed in 1965, in 1966, and again in 1978. Picture two 

 gives you an idea of the way this site looked in 1979. This site is low in fire hazard with 

 littie ground fuel, vigorous growth, a pleasure to walk through, and possesses a visual 

 quality of an open forest stand with bright green understory. This photo is now over a 

 decade old, and I must report that the stand is once again closing in, as we have not burned 

 it since 1978. Alder, some brush species, and seedlings of other species such as incense- 

 cedar and white fir are coming in profusely. The stocking in this stand is about 95 trees 



