Ancient Forest Society

Seeds for Tomorrow

by Wendy Baxter

Ancient forests of the future start as seeds today.

Ancient Forest Society (AFS) has an ongoing seed collection program to support reforestation and seed banking efforts across California. In July, AFS collected giant sequoia cones for Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. These NPS-funded collections will ensure that the parks have locally sourced giant sequoia seeds available for ongoing and future reforestation efforts. 

While some park visitors confuse sugar pine cones for giant sequoia cones, giant sequoia cones are surprisingly small and dense. The trees can hold on to their green cones for up to 20 years. Each cone holds around 200 to 230 oat flake-sized seeds, but not all of these seeds will go on to become trees. The majority of giant sequoia seeds are filled with tannins and do not have viable embryos that will germinate and grow. 

Over the course of two weeks our team collected giant sequoia cones from four different groves and 62 unique trees. We don’t collect too many cones from any given tree and we select trees that are spread throughout the groves to enhance the genetic diversity of the collection. We need to climb the giant sequoias to collect the cones. You may be wondering why we can’t just collect cones from the ground. There are several reasons. One reason is that it is best to collect cones from the upper two-thirds of the live crown to reduce the likelihood that they are self-pollinated. Another reason is that it's typically challenging to find enough green cones on the ground. Cones that have come into contact with the ground may also be contaminated with pathogens.  

The collected cones are now at the US Forest Service Placerville Nursery for processing and storage. Giant sequoia seeds can last in cold storage for up to 15 years. The seeds will be tested for viability and germination by the nursery and stored until the Parks need them grown into seedlings. 

In a perfect world, sequoias wouldn’t need our help seeding the next generation of giants. Unfortunately, recent wildfires have burned so severely that giant sequoias may not return to certain areas without our help. Seeds are the first step in the process of ensuring giant sequoias persist in those areas. This is a growing program and we partner with many land managers to provide seed for their reforestation efforts. You can support this important work by visiting our website and learning more about ways to give.

Bark Beetle Monitoring

by Eva Lopez

Ancient Forest Society has initiated a new Range-wide Giant Sequoia Bark Beetle Monitoring Project. Working in collaboration with the Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition, the project aims to learn more about where and how giant sequoias are impacted by native sequoia bark beetles.  AFS is coordinating with land managers across the giant sequoia range to locate trees that show signs of beetle attack by entering information in a Survey123. The information collected from these ground surveys is then used to determine target trees for further investigation. AFS will climb the target trees to conduct an in-depth investigation on beetle activity and tree response. Data will be shared with land managers to learn new ways to steward giant sequoias with this novel beetle threat.

Support for this project is welcomed as we address the threats that impact the health and well-being of our sequoias.

Bring the Sequoias Home

Ancient Forest Society’s team spends their time high up above the landscapes of California’s Sierra Nevada forests. We have captured these unique and beautiful views for others to enjoy. You can now bring one of our images home to the perfect place to transport you to these majestic places. Take a look at these gorgeous images and order your own customized print to decorate your favorite space. These prints are ultraHD, printed on Aluminum Dibond, ready to hang with mounting hardware installed. Standard prints come in 30” x 20” landscape although custom sizing is available by request. Take a look at some of our top picks for prints to take home by clicking the button below. The funds from your purchase go towards supporting our mission.