Giant Sequoias - Nutmeg Grove Unit

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A beautiful view looking out over the Nutmeg Grove

Nutmeg Grove Unit

This Grove is the largest in area size at 130.5 acres consisting of giant sequoia and a mixed conifer-black oak forest component. It is located on the northeast side of Case Mountain entirely within a sub-watershed ranging from 5100 and 5800 feet elevation. There are large flowing springs in this Grove, which eventually drain into the East Fork of the Kaweah River. A portion of this grove was acquired by the BLM in 1979 through the same land exchange, which involved the Case Unit. There is no public access to this grove.The seller retained the rights to harvest 3 million board feet of timber in combination with concurrent logging in the Case Grove.

Sequoia Resource

There are 44 inventoried giant sequoias that range in size from 3 to 15 feet in diameter (dbh). Eleven of the 44 trees are located on private property. In addition, there are an estimated 25 giant sequoias located on a 40 acre separately owned parcel that range from 3 to 12 feet in diameter. There are 2 sequoias located on another 80 acre additional and separately owned parcel. Both trees are estimated to be 3 to 4 feet in diameter. There are an estimated total of 62 giant sequoias, sizes ranging from 3 to 15 feet in diameter, in the Nutmeg Grove Unit. There are 187 giant sequoias, sizes ranging from 4.5 to 35.9 inches in diameter, found on BLM lands. The Bureau has a Cooperative Agreement with the major private landowner to conduct studies and inventories on all these private lands since the private landowner is interested in best management practices for giant sequoias. These private lands encompass approximately one half of the sequoia bearing lands (222 acres), on Case Mountain. Sequoia inventories have been conducted and completed as of 10/02 on this major property within this grove unit. There are 1515 sequoias in the 4.5 to 35.9 inch diameter dbh size on the major landowners property. The Bureau does not yet have any cooperative agreements to conduct any inventories on the two remaining and separately owned properties. It is estimated that there are 200 and 25 sequoias growing on these remaining properties by other landowners, respectively, which range from 4.5 to 35.9 inches in diameter. There are 1735 total sequoias, which range from 4.5 to 35.9 inches in diameter in the Nutmeg Grove for all lands. There is approximately 2000 hand-counted, mostly 1987 fire-regenerated sequoias, on the BLM portions of the Grove. It is estimated that there are even more such regenerated sequoia trees found on the private lands.

Fire History

The 4360-acre Case Fire of August-September 1987 began as a lightning strike in the Nutmeg Grove. A low intensity ground fire burned only portions of the Grove. This fire affected approximately 50 percent of the grove. Prior to the 1987 fire, the entire Grove burned in 1928. Most of the larger sequoias have a fire history as evidenced by large basal fire scars. Smaller sized sequoias often have basal fire scars from the 1987 fire. Prescribed burning is planned for this Grove within the next 2 to 3 years as of 10/01.

Logging History

Owners who were not the current landowners of today logged this Grove during the late 1940' s-1950 when it was completely under private ownership and. Mixed conifers and large giant sequoias were cut. Approximately 65 large giant sequoia stumps were found and locations documented by Global Positioning System (GPS) using latitude and longitude coordinates. One stump measured 54.9 feet in circumference. It appears that this could have been the largest tree at the time residing on Case Mountain. Approximately 85 percent of the total number of sequoias in the unit was generated by surface-disturbing activities created by logging during the 1940's-50's period. Also a small crop of sequoias can be found in places of disturbance caused by the 1981 logging, which not only included the BLM acquired lands but also the private lands before the current landowner. It is estimated that 4 percent of the total number of 4 to 12 inch diameter sequoias are a result caused by regeneration after the 1981 logging. It appears that there were no sequoias logged in this unit during 1981-82. Mixed conifers can still be found in abundance throughout the Grove. Black oak trees are generally found in the more open areas.

Regeneration

Scattered giant sequoia nurseries are occasionally found on the BLM portion of the unit. Slightly greater amounts of sequoia reproduction are found on the private lands due to more coverage by the 1987 fire. A few trees are topping the 20-foot tall level. Most are in intense competition with other trees due to close spacing and too much shading. White fir, incense cedar, sugar pine and ponderosa pine saplings can be found abundantly in the grove. There are also some young fire-regenerated California nutmeg saplings found in shaded areas.

Reforestation

There have been no known planting efforts to restock fire losses within the boundaries of the Grove. Planted ponderosa pines can be found near the southwest grove boundary. These pines appear to be healthy and somewhat close together. Uphill to the southwest of the unit near the upper northeast side of Case Mountain is a small giant sequoia plantation at the 6450-foot elevation level. This plantation is located on private lands and was planted in 1988 one year after the fire. The trees are stock originating from Mountain Home State Demonstration Forest (Mountain Home Grove). There are about 100 trees, which are quite robust in appearance as of 10/02.

Nutmeg Grove Reports
Photo Gallery Images
Fire regeneration Images