Giant Sequoia in Detroit’s Circle Forest by Andrew McFarlane

“Here’s a tree that is bigger than your house when it’s mature, taller than your buildings, and lives longer than you can comprehend.”

-Andrew “Birch” Kemp, Executive Director, Arboretum Detroit

The Archangel Ancient Tree Archive & Arboretum Detroit have partnered on a truly incredible effort that is planting giant sequoia in Detroit! Bridge Detroit shares that these colossal conifers can live for more than 3,000 years and reach heights in excess of 300′ tall with a circumference greater than 30′ at the base.

The sequoias will eventually provide a full canopy that protects everything beneath, he said. “It may be sad to call these .5- and 1-acre treescapes forests,” Kemp said. “We are expanding on this and shading our neighborhood in the only way possible, planting lots of trees.”

Giant sequoias are resilient against disease and insects, and are usually well-adapted to fire. Thick bark protects their trunks and their canopies tend to be too high for flames to reach. But climate change is making the big trees more vulnerable to wildfires out West, Kemp said. “The fires are getting so hot that its even threatening them,” he said.

You can read lots more in Bridge and at the Archangel Ancient Tree Archive, which I encourage you to support with your donations & by spreading the word about their amazing work!

Here are some pics I took yesterday afternoon along with some pics from the Archangel Facebook page. The big tree is the Stagg giant sequoia tree in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains – fifth largest tree in the world – and the shot of the guys in the tree shows Archangel’s Jake Milarch & Aaron Johns actually inside the 3000+ year old tree! The one of the burned tree shows the 3,000 year old “Waterfall Tree” Giant Sequoia before and after the 2020 Castle Fire.

Continued (apparently) in Big Questions about Giant Sequoia on Michigan in Pictures!