Bakersfield Field Office

Giant Sequoias - Coffeepot Grove Unit

50 Year old Sequoia growth with new growth at the Coffeepot Grove. Photo Credit : The Bureau of Land Management
50 Year old Sequoia growth with new growth at the Coffeepot Grove.
 
This Grove is 47.3 acres in size. It is located within a sub-watershed along the north side of Salt Creek Ridge that eventually drains into the East Fork of the Kaweah River. There is a flowing spring system found in this grove. The Coffee Pot Grove is located to the east of the other five Groves. It is about 1/3 mile from the Salt Creek Ridge Grove and ½ mile from the nearby Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park. Salt Creek Ridge then runs eastward and becomes steeper and drier as it continues up onto the 9000 foot Homers Nose peak that is located in the Park. There are no other Groves higher up on this ridge. The Coffeepot Grove ranges in elevation from 5500 to 6100 feet. The upper portion in Section 1 and a small portion at the very bottom are located on BLM lands, while the rest of this grove unit is privately owned. There is no public access to this grove unit. Previous owners from that era logged much of the private portions during the 1940's and 50's of both mixed conifers and large giant sequoias, while the BLM portions were cut for mixed conifers and a few unauthorized large sequoias. The largest Case Mountain sequoia stump found on BLM is located in this grove and it measured 51.3 feet in circumference. This could have been the largest tree found on BLM land anywhere at that time. Now, ironically a stack of split fence posts sit atop this stump, cut from over 50 years ago. It appears that many of the large giant sequoias cut during that early period were made into fence posts.
Sequoia Resource

There are 18 giant sequoias that range in size from size from 3 to 14 feet in diameter. Most of the larger sequoias are found on BLM making a total of 7 trees, while there are 11 trees located on the private land. There are 324 sequoias located on BLM and 854 sequoias on private land that range in size from 4.5 to 35.9 inches in diameter. Many of the more vigorous logging regenerated trees are now up to 140 feet in height. These trees were regenerated from creation of ideal seedbeds over 50 years ago by surface disturbing activities from the logging at that time. Probably over 90 percent of all the sequoias are in this 50-year old age class. There are 67 sequoia stumps, which were cut during the 1940's-50's logging period. Included in the stump total are approximately 18 smaller 3 to 5 foot diameter stumps cut during 1982 by previous landowners who also cut mixed conifers. The high density of stumps in this Grove attests to the former beauty of numerous sequoia monarch trees once found throughout this once tightly packed grove. There are only small areas of 1987 fire-regenerated sequoias to be found due to lack of good seed sources.

Fire History

Only about 60 percent of the grove area burned in 1987. The lower portion of this Grove is now heavily cloaked with thick stands of deer brush. Still there are some young healthy sequoias to be found in the brush fields. Incense cedar, white fir, sugar pine and ponderosa pine saplings can also be found in the grove. There is also some California nutmeg regeneration as a result of the 1987 fire. Portions of the grove not burned by the fire have areas of high-density slash and trees closely spaced together. The last fire in these portions of the grove occured in 1928. Prescribed fire is planned for the future.

Logging History

This Grove is no different than the other five grove units with respect to logging event time frames and species harvested. Approximately 90 percent of the this Grove was logged at one time or another. The 1940's-50's logging efforts were much more intensive than those of 1982. Mixed conifers and giant sequoia were the target species. Still, there is a good mix of those species to be found today. Black oak can be found generally in the more open areas.

Regeneration

Sapling-sized giant sequoias are found in a few small-scattered locations where the 1987 fire burned portions of the grove. Rapid establishment of dense stands of deer brush has caused many of these trees to suffer from excessive shading. Mixed conifer saplings can also be found in many places.

Reforestation

There are no known tree plantings in this Grove.

Coffeepot Grove Reports
Photo Gallery
Fire regeneration Images