Just scant hours from LA, and the metropolitan area of Southern California, lies ones on the most majestic and magical forests on the entire planet. In Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, Giant Sequoia National Monument, and the Sequoia National Forest, groves of Giant Sequoias (Sequoiadendron giganteum) can be found and looked upon in amazement. Many of the giant monarchs of the forest are over 2,000 years old, and it’s likely there are species that could be up to 4,000 years old. They also hold the title for being the largest single living plants (that are not an underground network of mushrooms or a colony of many trees joined together). The largest tree is located in Sequoia National Park, and today is known as the General Sherman tree. It is 275 feet tall and over 36 feet in diameter at the base. These majestic beings were once cut down for show and for lumber, but ironically and fortunately, they were hard to cut down and the lumber was not especially good for building materials. This, along with a newfound desire in the early 20th century to protect the planet, helped to establish these national parks and protected groves where the trees are found today. However, with just over 100 years of protection from humans, and with life spans that saw them sprout while the pyramids of Egypt were being constructed, it is of little consolation to the trees that these same protectors have literally changed the atmosphere and the climate around them. Located on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada range in California, most of the groves receive heavy air pollution in the summer from the large scale agriculture that takes place just below in the Great Central Valley, as well as air pollution from the Los Angeles and San Francisco metropolitan areas. Moreover, as the entire climate around them transforms and every wildfire burns more and more forest, it’s quite possible that this species which finds it ecological niche along just a 250 mile line between the elevation of 5,000 -7,000 feet in just one single mountain range, may be running out of space and time.