Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Mike White
Forest Service sought proposals from private developers for a ski resort at Mineral King. No suitable developer with the necessary capital was found until the Walt Disney Company was awarded a temporary permit in 1966. Disney’s proposal included a large-scale Swiss village, with two hotels, 14 ski lifts, and parking for 3,600 vehicles. The Sierra Club deemed the small subalpine valley unsuitable for such a large-scale development, initiating a series of legal battles to thwart the project and obtaining a restraining order in 1969.
The Sierra Club tied up Disney in the courts long enough for public opinion to turn against the proposed resort. Another strike against Disney occurred when California withdrew its proposal to construct a new state highway from Three Rivers to Mineral King, requiring potential developers to come up with several million more dollars for construction, as well as having the responsibility of acquiring all the necessary permits for a route crossing both state and federal lands. As the public’s awareness of environmental concerns grew, Disney began to lose the public relations battle, putting the proposed development in serious jeopardy. On November 10, 1978, President Jimmy Carter signed into law the Omnibus Parks Bill, which, in part, added Mineral King to Sequoia National Park, permanently ending the notion of a ski area in the lovely valley.
Recent History
The post–World War II era was characterized by increased visitation, improvements to infrastructure, and the advancement of scientific research for the purposes of determining park policy. The Park Service instituted steps to protect the sequoias in the Giant Forest by reducing development. By 1972, campsites, picnic areas, and most structures were removed and relocated to less sensitive areas. The visitor center was moved to Lodgepole, and the gas station and maintenance facilities were moved to Red Fir.
Nearly twenty-five more years would be necessary before the Park Service finally resolved the problem of commercialism at the Giant Forest. Following the 1996 season, the historic Giant Forest Lodge was permanently closed, replaced by a new lodge at Wuksachi. Two years later, the commercial buildings had been removed, with four exceptions. The old market was renovated and remodeled into the Giant Forest Museum, which opened in 2001. Additional improvements at the Giant Forest included trails, interpretive displays, and new parking areas. A free shuttle bus system was instituted in 2004 in an attempt to reduce traffic on the nearby roads.
Cedar Grove eventually saw limited commercial development in 1978, when a lodge with 18 motel rooms, a snack bar, and general store was built—a small-scale fulfillment of the vision once held by the San Joaquin Valley’s business professionals from so many years before. Construction of the John Muir Lodge has increased the number of overnight accommodations at Grant Grove, which never really suffered the extent of problems of overdevelopment experienced at the Giant Forest.
Wilderness and Backcountry Issues
Since 1984, nearly 90 percent of Sequoia and Kings Canyon has been managed as wilderness. Combined with the adjacent Forest Service wildernesses, a vast stretch of the southern Sierra remains wild. After decades of some neglect, the Park Service developed backcountry regulations and policies to prevent severe overuse and restore environmental health. By 1972, backcountry permits and quotas were in place to forestall the crush of backpackers in the more popular areas of the parks and surrounding wilderness areas. They put camping bans and stay limits in place for areas of severe overuse and banned campfires above certain elevations. In addition, rangers from both the Park Service and Forest Service began a campaign to educate visitors about wilderness ethics. More recently, both services began requiring the use of bear lockers and canisters in heavily used areas and strongly suggesting their use in others.
Sequoia and Kings Canyon have faced many challenges and undoubtedly await more trials in the future. Although visitation is below the peak levels experienced during the late ’80s and early ’90s, managing hundreds of thousands of visitors per year can be a daunting task. Even more difficult is dealing with consequences produced beyond the park’s borders, such as air pollution from heavily populated urban areas of western California, which creeps into the Sierra and threatens animal and plant life (including giant sequoia seedlings), reduces visibility, and produces acid rain. Illegal marijuana cultivation plagues remote areas in the western foothills and promises to be an ongoing dilemma because of a lack of personnel and proper funding to deal with the situation. Fortunately, backpackers will experience few, if any, of these problems while on the trail, with perhaps the notable exception of securing a wilderness permit.
Flora and Fauna
Encompassing the change in elevation from near the floor of the San Joaquin Valley to Mt. Whitney, the Sequoia and Kings Canyon region of the southern Sierra supports a diverse cross section of plant and animal life within several distinct communities. The following general divisions should not be viewed as definitive descriptions. Consult the bibliography for additional resources on plants and animals in the Sierra Nevada.
The Foothills
Plant Life: The western fringe of Sequoia National Park includes the Sierra foothills, a low-elevation zone extending from the edge of the San Joaquin Valley east to elevations between 4,500 and 5,000 feet. The foothills plant community is characterized by a Mediterranean climate, with mild temperatures, winter rain, and dry summers. Average rainfall varies from as little as 10 inches per year in the lowlands to as much as 40 inches per year in the upper elevations. Much of the vegetation may appear parched and dry throughout much of the year, but following the rainy season, the hills come alive with a vibrant carpet of green, sprinkled with a brilliant display of wildflowers.
Grasslands cover the lower slopes of the foothills, as they rise from the broad plain of the Central Valley. Nonnative grasses have mostly overtaken the native species. Periods of drought, coupled with severe overgrazing in previous centuries, have favored the invasive European annual grasses over the native species.
Diverse woodlands alternate with chaparral on the higher slopes east of the grasslands. Generally, woodland occupies shady slopes where the soil is damp, while chaparral flourishes on dry and sunny slopes. Foothills woodland is characterized by savannalike growth of trees and grasses, including oaks (blue, live, valley, and canyon), California buckeye, laurel, and redbud.
Dry, rocky slopes in the foothills are typically carpeted with chaparral, a tangle of shrubs that includes chamise (greasewood), manzanita, ceanothus, buckeye, flowering ash, mountain mahogany, and California coffeeberry. Fire plays an important role in the chaparral community, regularly burning areas every 10 to 40 years.
Although the foothills zone is generally considered to be a dry environment, rivers, streams, and creeks flow through the area, transporting meltwater from the High Sierra toward the thirsty valley below. A varied plant community thrives along these watercourses, well-watered by the plentiful moisture. Cottonwood, willow, alder, oak, laurel, and sycamore are common streamside associates.
POISON OAK
Poison oak is found in both the foothills woodland and chaparral communities. As the saying goes, “leaves of three, let it be.” Poison oak leaves typically grow in groups of three; they are bronze and shiny in spring, green in summer, and scarlet in fall. The leaves usually fall off the plant prior to winter. Poison oak may grow as a creeping plant, erect shrub, or even a small tree under the right conditions. All parts of the poison oak plant, including branches, stems, leaves, and even roots, contain the oil urushiol, which is the causal agent for the rash that may develop after contact. Even a microscopic drop of urushiol is enough to trigger a reaction in people sensitive to the oil. The toxin may penetrate the skin within less than 10 minutes after being exposed to it.
Upon contact, immediately wash your skin or attempt to absorb the oil with dirt. Touching clothing that has come in contact with the plant is oftentimes just as potent as direct contact. Wash contaminated clothing in soap and hot water as soon as possible. If a rash develops, treat the affected area with hydrocortisone cream. For severe reactions, consult a physician.
Animal Life: The mild, Mediterranean climate of the foothills region is hospitable to a wide variety of creatures. Common woodland amphibians include three varieties of salamander and the California newt. Several varieties of lizards can often be seen scurrying across the trail. Snakes are quite common in this zone as well, with the western rattlesnake