US-ENVIRONMENT-WILDFIRE-TREES-SEQUOIA

The blackened toothpick-like remains of totally burnt Giant Sequoia trees are seen in the Redwood Mountain Grove in Kings Canyon National Park on the western slope of California's Sierra Nevada mountains, on August 24, 2023. When ferocious wildfires tore through California's prized giant sequoia forests, they killed towering trees that have lived there for thousands of years -- and perhaps changed the nature of the groves forever. "The goal is to reestablish enough sequoias in the first few years after fire so that we have trees 60, 100, 400 years from now," says Christy Brigham, chief of resources management and science at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP) (Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)