Yosemite Tree Notes

This week, forest fires are burning in Yosemite and threatening groves of giant sequoias.

In the late 1800s Sir Joseph Hooker said he had never seen a coniferous forest that rivaled the Sierra's because of the grandeur of its individual trees and the number of its species. 

The Ahwahnechee and their ancestors lived in Yosemite Valley for hundreds of years. Acorns from black oaks made up 60 percent of their food.

The prime growing area for the ponderosa pine is in the Sierra.

For the last 140 years, trees in the meadows of Yosemite Valley have been in flux. Black oaks love moist earth and need fire to thrive, which they don't often get today because of human fire suppression. Pines and cedars like dry earth and suffer root-rot when there’s too much moisture in the ground.

When the settlers drained the swamps in the valley in the late 1800s, pine trees began replacing the oaks, and a crucial source of food for the Ahwahnechee was greatly reduced.

The pioneers also replaced a community and its sustainable way of life with hoards of tourists, creating a place of noise and commerce. Yosemite is also a place where millions of people come each year to experience the awe of nature and the wilderness. Many come to heal, calm their demons, and find strength and guidance for their lives back home.

When I’m in Yosemite, at dawn I often walk into the coolness of the meadow with a cup of hot tea and stand by my favorite ponderosa. I look up at the mountains catching the first rays of light, and feel the warmth of the sun flow into the valley. I think about all the people through time who have stood on this spot — the Ahwahnechee who no longer call this valley home, the pioneers who are also gone, and the people who come today to be alone with nature.

I am heartened by people returning to nature seeking wisdom and inspiration, but I grieve what has been lost.