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California-based researchers first to climb world's largest tree in Sequoia National Park

By Shelby Reilly

Updated on: May 30, 2024 / 6:23 PM PDT / CBS Sacramento

California researchers climb the world's largest tree

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE — History was made as researchers based out of Northern California became the first people to climb one of the world's most famous trees.

The Ancient Forest Society is a nonprofit organization based out of South Lake Tahoe in El Dorado County that studies and protects ancient trees and forests.

They were recently asked to climb the largest tree in the world: the General Sherman in Sequoia National Park.

"As the largest tree in the world, the national park was very concerned about the general sherman tree and wanted us to go up there and look to see if it was being attacked or not," said Anthony Ambrose, executive director of the Ancient Forest Society.

General Sherman contains more wood in its trunk and more total biomass—trunk size, branches, foliage and roots—than any other tree on earth, according to the National Park Service. Ambrose said they climbed the 275-foot tall tree on May 20 and 21 to see if the tree was being attacked by beetles.

"There's this native bark beetle that's been attacking and killing a small number of sequoia trees throughout the range," Ambrose said.

General Sherman is visited by around two million people per year.

"It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for sure. I never expected to be able to climb the General Sherman tree, it's such a famous tree," Ambrose said.

SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK, CA - MAY 21, 2024 - Forest canopy ecologist Wendy Baxter, left, and plant physiological ecologist Anthony Ambrose, Ph.D., both with the Ancient Forest Society, begin to climb the General Sherman tree to perform a wellness check in the Sequoia National Park on May 21, 2024. Two other scientists, with the team, also climbed the tree to inspect for bark beetle activity and general health of the tree. By volume, the General Sherman tree is the largest known living single-stem tree on Earth. They also used drones and satellite imagery to determine whether there were any concerns about the level of activity by an insect that naturally co-habitats with giant sequoias but can damage drought-weakened trees. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) Genaro Molina

This is one of the many reasons Ambrose said it is important to make sure the tree is in good health.

"The tree appeared to be healthy and thriving and able to successfully fight off the beetles," Ambrose said.

Christy Brigham, Chief of Resource Management and Science for Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park, said they were also testing beetle detection methods.

"By having tree climbers, drone and satellite imagery all from the same tree at the same time," Brigham said.

She said drought conditions and wildfires have made the sequoias more prone to these attacks, however, they are still very resilient.

SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK, CA - MAY 21, 2024 - Forest canopy ecologist Wendy Baxter, left, and plant physiological ecologist Anthony Ambrose, Ph.D., both with the Ancient Forest Society, climb the General Sherman tree to perform a wellness check and see if there is any bark beetle activity harming the tree in the Sequoia National Park on May 21, 2024. A drone flies by the pair while determining whether there were any concerns about the level of activity by an insect that naturally co-habitats with giant sequoias but can damage drought-weakened trees. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) Genaro Molina

Brigham said only 40 sequoia trees have been killed so far as opposed to the hundreds of pine trees that were killed during the drought.

"It was a huge relief to find that the tree was as healthy looking at it from in the canopy as it appeared looking at it from the ground," Brigham said.

There are no plans for the Ancient Forest Society to climb General Sherman again since it's in good health, Brigham said. She added that they do have a number of other projects planned for the future.

Brigham said this research effort is a part of the work of the Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition which was formed to address these emerging threats to the giant sequoias.