24
THE DAVEY BULLETIN
|
November/December 2019
A 'GIANT' VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY
It's not every day you can say you
climbed a 250-foot tree. But Mike
Walters, lead foreman, North
Minneapolis R/C office, can say he's
done so several times now.
During a week in August, Walters
joined 15 volunteers from around
the world in retrieving research and
climbing gear left in 50 of the Giant
Forest sequoias in the Sierra Nevada
Mountains of California.
The quest started when Walters met
Anthony Ambrose, a plant ecologist
from the University of California at
Berkeley, during the annual Rochester
Arborist Workshop. Ambrose has
spent the past four years studying how
droughts affect the sequoias. Working
with volunteer climbers over the years,
the researchers left pieces of rigging
in place to more easily ascend the
massive trees each year.
After the research concluded, some
of the gear remained in the trees. To
retrieve it, the volunteers camped near
LEADERSHIP
Yosemite National Park and hiked 45
minutes to the base of the trees. At
roughly 6,000 feet above sea level, the
climbers took it slow going up. And up
they went, almost 12,000 total vertical
feet over the course of four days.
"It leaves you speechless. And
breathless. When you're that high up
in such a massive living thing – the
smallest branches up there are the
size of the biggest trees you work on
anywhere else – you really start to
appreciate every detail around you,"
Walters said.
Having grown up in California, Walters
had dreamed of climbing in the
sequoias. He started working for
Davey's Western Utility services
before moving to R/C in Chicago and
then Minneapolis. Davey's high safety
standards helped him land the sequoia
volunteer gig, as each climber had
to be approved by the National Park
System in order to ensure a safe climb
for both the climbers and the trees.
About the Research
Ambrose's research has shown
that the Giant Forest sequoias,
which use 500-800 gallons of water
each day during summer months,
are showing significant amounts
of dieback in their foliage due to
several years of drought. Using
ground monitoring and crown
measurements, Ambrose and his
team are designing a vulnerability
map of the trees to prioritize which
trees need the most help.
Left: One of the giant sequoias in the Giant Forest where volunteers retrieved rigging.
Above: Mike Walters, center, with UC Berkeley researchers Anthony Ambrose, left,
and Wendy Baxter, right, at the base of a giant sequoia.