WHAT DOES SEQUOIA PARKS CONSERVANCY DO?

Sequoia Parks Conservancy (SPC) is built on decades of support for Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. This legacy demonstrates a longstanding commitment and contribution to the parks and their surrounding communities, including the US Army Corps of Engineers at Lake Kaweah. ​

SPC is a key connection point with park visitors and provides important services, educational programs, and funding in support of park priorities.
Ensuring the future stewardship of Sequoia and Kings Canyon Parks requires meaningful outreach to future generations. We realize that bringing nature and the parks into local classrooms is vital to creating meaningful, lifelong connections between youth and the parks. SPC funds Rangers in the Classroom, summer internships, and other service-learning programs that support outdoor learning for K-12 schools in the San Joaquin Valley.
At Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, we are the caretakers. We work steadily, patiently, and enthusiastically to restore imperiled wildlife species, important habitats and the natural processes that sustain them. 

As constant and faithful guardians, we have an extremely important job to protect and preserve the parks’ natural and cultural resources. We do this through a robust portfolio of programs that ranges from meadow restoration to wildlife management. You may have seen some of the National Park Service’s work during your time here. Halstead Meadow was restored and is not only beautiful, it is a key indicator in what makes the Sierra Nevada vibrant and diverse.  Caring for the parks also entails taking into account the realities of climate change. For example, managing sequoias that are more than 1,000 years old in a rapidly changing environment can be a monumental task. During the years of recent drought, park scientists observed drought stress in these trees. Support to our sequoia monitoring and conservation fund makes this easier. In supporting Resource Management and Science, you, too, can be a park caretaker.
The parks are busier than ever with more than two million visitors annually. Rangers at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks conduct nearly 150 search and rescue operations annually for visitors with emergency needs. Donations are used to support these lifesaving efforts.
California’s recent serious drought, from 2012 to 2015, exacerbated by high temperatures in part due to greenhouse gas emissions, was especially severe in the southern Sierra Nevada and has resulted in 5.8 million dead trees within these two parks. Additionally, monarch giant sequoias, long-thought to be incredibly resistant to environmental stress, showed needle dieback and even whole tree death during the drought. These changes, along with other observed impacts to breeding birds, small mammals, and glaciers, have park scientists concerned. 

Monarch giant sequoias use incredibly large amounts of water, 550-800 gallons per day.They also live thousands of years, and before now, their primary cause of mortality was falling over. During the recent, hot drought, giant sequoia monarchs were killed by beetles and burned up in high-severity fire.
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It is imperative that we increase financial support of research during this time of threat in order to understand impacts and devise solutions such as restoration, translocation, and reforestation. With a team of dedicated scientists, naturalists, and environmentalists behind us, we strive to preserve some of the mightiest organisms on the planet, the giant sequoias, and the biodiversity of the vast Sierra Nevada.
There are more than 1,000 miles of trail in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. With endless options, you could take a leisurely stroll through the Crescent Meadow Loop Trail or challenge yourself to continue for over 70 miles of trail through the Sierra Nevada and attempt to summit Mt. Whitney, the tallest mountain in the contiguous United States with an elevation of 14,505 feet.

With more than 2 million visitors each year, the parks trail system experiences its fair share of wear and tear. So what happens when there’s a rock slide in the wilderness or restoration work needs to be done to blend in with historic work?

The Sequoia and Kings Canyon Trails Crew works relentlessly to keep our trails open and clear so that park visitors can have a safe and memorable experience. And since Sequoia and Kings Canyon is 98% wilderness, crews often have to travel to remote locations and stay there for months. They use mostly primitive tools - sledgehammers, pry bars, shovels and handsaws. It is truly backbreaking work. 

They also make sure everyone, regardless of ability, is able to enjoy the parks. In fact, there are five dedicated trails that are wheelchair-accessible:  
  • General Sherman Tree Trail (Giant Forest)
  • Hazelwood Nature Loop (Giant Forest)
  • Big Trees Trail (Giant Forest)
  • Roaring River Falls (Cedar Grove)
  • Muir Rock Trail (Cedar Grove)

​Construction and maintenance of these trails are made possible by donors like you. So please, show your support for Trails and Accessibility. The Trails Crew, their expertise, and their commitment to keeping the parks in pristine condition for all visitors are truly beyond measure.  
SPC provides financial and logistical support for vital programs that preserve park wildlife. Protecting black bears from human conflict, reintroducing Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep to the Sierra Nevada Crest, and recovering critical habitat for endangered mountain yellow-legged frogs are some of the current projects funded by SPC.​
Two species of mountain yellow-legged frogs (Rana muscosa and Rana sierrae) occur in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks and are integral to high mountain lake systems. These once abundant amphibians play a critical role in maintaining biodiversity in these ecosystems, but they have disappeared from more than 92% of historic sites in the Sierra Nevada, with similarly large losses in the parks. Non-native trout and disease caused by amphibian chytrid fungus are the primary reasons for their decline

Restoring mountain yellow-legged frog populations is a high priority for Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks and Sequoia Parks Conservancy. A list of urgent needs for the frog restoration program has been developed and includes select frog recovery actions for transport, antifungal medication, disease testing, and supplies needed to salvage 200 animals from two vulnerable populations and conduct zoo-based antifungal treatment, captive rearing, and immunization before reintroduction back to the wild. 

FUNDED & COMPLETED PROJECTS

Trail Improvements:
Bubbs Creek Switchbacks
Muir Rock Universal Access Trail
Redwood Creek Crossing Restoration
Tokopah Falls Trail
Hazelwood Nature Trail
Zumwalt Meadow Boardwalk
Panoramic Point Overlook

Research & Restoration:
Giant Sequoia Data Synthesis
Wet Meadow
Halsted Meadow
​Cave Species Photo Documentation
Historic Photo Archive
Crystal Cave Solar Generation Project
Lint Camp

Outreach & Education:
Rangers in the Classroom
Beetle Rock Education Center
​Sequoia Field Institute
Crystal Cave Free Tours for Schools
Giant Sequoia Educational Video

Wildlife Protection:
Bear Resistant Food Canister
Bear Aware Educational Video

Also:
Search and Rescue Funding
Artists in the Backcountry
Cedar Grove Ambulance
​Wuksachi Lodge Art Exhibits
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