Project Statement
This unprecedented restoration effort
has set precedence within the National Park System for
removing facilities from environmentally sensitive areas.
This twenty-year project required comprehensive planning,
careful analysis, environmentally responsible solutions,
and public support. 282 buildings and more than 1 million
square feet of asphalt were removed from the Giant Forest.
This undertaking included restoring natural conditions
to the grove, relocating visitor services, and providing
a meaningful visitor experience.
Project Narrative
Awe-inspiring giant sequoia trees are
among the largest living things on earth, but the opportunity
to experience them is rare. Only 75 groves exist and
only along the southern Sierra’s western slope.
The Giant Forest Grove, one of the largest, was saved
by the establishment of Sequoia National Park in 1890.
However, the National Park status did not fully protect
the big trees. The road that brought visitors to Giant
Forest also brought camping, cabins, commercial development,
and congestion, which damaged the shallow-rooted sequoias.
An early park superintendent, Colonel John Roberts White,
recognized these problems over 70 years ago and vigorously
toiled to protect the natural resources. While largely
unsuccessful in clearing structures from Giant Forest,
he did prevent additional development and set the stage
for the eventual restoration of Giant Forest. “If
we do not plan carefully and transfer the major part
of the present activity away from the heart of the Giant
Forest, the beauties of that area – already tarnished
– will be further impaired”. Colonel
John Roberts White, 1930
The Giant Forest restoration project included
the construction of overnight facilities in the Wuksachi
area, a new campground near Dorst Creek, the removal
of development from Giant Forest, ecological restoration,
and development of new visitor facilities. The project
has been the top construction funding priority in the
National Park Service for over a decade. This massive
restoration effort to provide environmentally responsible,
cost effective, and appropriate development for Sequoia
National Park established a model for removing development
from key National Park landscapes. The design team was
responsible for finding ways to protect the natural
and cultural resources, including the removal of inappropriate
development from the sequoia grove, mitigating damage
to the Sequoia forest, limiting future impacts through
facility and infrastructure design, and preserving key
historic buildings. The plan completely redesigned the
parking, transportation and trail system, developed
an interpretive museum, and ensured accessibility to
key features with the implementation of a shuttle system
to reduce congestion. Visitor lodging for overnight
accommodations was relocated to Wuksachi Village, six
miles away from Giant Forest: and campgrounds were relocated
outside the grove at Dorst campground. The plan also
improved the efficiency of park operations by removing
and/or replacing deteriorated utilities, stabilizing
historic buildings, and simplifying the snow removal
process.
Some parking was retained within the grove
to provide access to the Giant Forest museum and Round
Meadow; most has been placed just outside the grove
near the General Sherman Tree in the previously disturbed
Wolverton service yard. Small parking areas accessible
to visitors with disabilities are located adjacent to
the museum, Round Meadow, and the General Sherman Tree.
A shuttle system is being implemented to allow overnight
visitors at Wuksachi Village and Lodgepole Campground
to visit Giant Forest without bringing their vehicles
to the grove and to allow day users parked at Wolverton
or the Museum to connect to other features of the grove.
The trail system throughout the grove has been improved
and tied in to new patterns of parking. General principles
for siting and design of the new visitor facilities
were to constrain new construction to the footprint
of existing disturbance, limit future impacts of human
use through appropriate facility design, and to maintain
a national park character.
Restoration Sequence: Before
the Giant Forest could be restored, a logical sequence
of activities needed to occur with each major component
supporting the next. Necessary visitor lodging, campgrounds,
and services had to be relocated to less environmentally
sensitive sites before removals could begin. The new
plan for overnight accommodation and all of the support
services had to be sustainable and not impair park resources.
Following removal of facilities, the damaged sites would
not likely recover on their own; science and planning
worked together to counteract the impacts of humans
and re-establish natural processes. The final step was
to connect Giant Forest to the visitor. Shuttles, trails,
and the interpretive museum bring visitors into the
forest and provide opportunities for unforgettable experiences
and deep understanding of the Sequoia ecosystem. The
relocation effort began in 1984 with the design and
construction of the maintenance area and wastewater
treatment plant. Wuksachi infrastructure, fire station,
and Dorst campground followed from 1986 through 1994.
The first phase of lodging opened in 1999. The museum
restoration was completed and opened in 2001. The demolition
and restoration was phased over five major projects,
spanning the years 1997 to 2005. The final project to
complete trail work and restore the Sherman Tree area
was completed in 2006.
Relocate overnight accommodations:
Wuksachi Village –The design for Wuksachi
consolidated visitor lodging into four separate terraces
to preserve significant open space areas and protect
sensitive natural resources and wildlife habitat. Whenever
possible, the plan utilized already disturbed areas
for building sites and avoided development in locations
that would impact sensitive landscape features. A lodge/dining
room serves as the central element of the plan. The
design concept focused on a village theme similar to
the previous lodging concept at Giant Forest. A system
of accessible pedestrian trails connects all areas,
links to the surrounding environment, and encourages
visitors to leave their cars parked once they have arrived.
The trails double as service and emergency access. This
site also includes a wastewater treatment plant, utilities,
fire station, staff housing facilities, and amphitheater.
Additionally, campsites and maintenance activities were
relocated to the Wuksachi Village area.
Restore natural conditions: This
phase included demolition of facilities and infrastructure
from Giant Forest, and restoration of natural grade,
and forest ecosystem. This phase removed 282 buildings,
over a million square feet of asphalt roads, parking
lots and trails, restored a total of 231 acres of the
Giant Forest, rehabilitated 2 historic structures (museum
and comfort station), and consolidated 18 parking lots
down to 4. Demolition needed to occur in a manner that
would not cause further damage to the forest system.
Special construction techniques were developed to prevent
soil compaction, protect significant trees, and limit
the size of construction equipment to minimize vegetation
and tree root disturbance. Asphalt and concrete removed
from demolition operations were recycled for use as
base material for new roads and parking in subsequent
phases. The goal of the restoration effort was to return
the forest structure and composition at the restoration
sites to a condition similar to what it was prior to
development. Suppression of fire had badly altered the
forest to the point that a natural regeneration of the
sites would have been inadequate. The restoration efforts
included re-establishing natural grade, restoring soil
conditions, planting locally native plants, erosion
control, and prescribed burning.
Environmental Responsibility:
Sustainable design and development components of the
project include:
- Protect or restore habitat –
- 231 acres of the Giant Forest are
being restored with this project
- Environmental restoration used
only locally collected seed, cuttings, or transplants to maintain genetic
integrity
- New overnight facilities were
located in minimized site disturbance and disruption
of the existing ecosystem by dispersing the development
and careful planning to maximize open space
- All construction within the grove
is placed on fill to minimize impacts to Sequoia
roots, utilities required hand excavation to protect
roots
- Interpretive exhibits and waysides
provide information on the ecological restoration
- Most parking relocated out
of the grove, shuttle system used in the grove
- Building reuse – Rehabilitation
of historic market and dance hall to interpretive
function, reuse of historic restrooms and ranger residence
- Material reuse –
- Asphalt and concrete from demolition
were recycled for paving base material
- Salvaged materials including granite
curbing, timber, light fixtures, and boulders
- Contaminated soils from gas station
were remediated and reused in road subgrade
- Hazardous materials were
removed from wood structures; the unusable wood
was ground to reduce hauling volume and sent to
valley for reuse.
Provide visitor experience:
The third component of the project was to bring visitors
into the Giant Forest to enjoy, to educate, and to inspire.
The Giant Forest Interim Management Plan established
how visitors would access and experience the Giant Forest.
It included a transportation study, site analysis, and
provided a framework for parking, shuttle system, trail
system, and interpretive museum. The museum is the focus
of the interpretative program at Giant Forest, housed
in the rehabilitated historic market structure. The
museum is the entryway for visitors to the forest trail
system and also serves to educate the public on the
importance of protecting this significant resource for
the future generations. Round Meadow is the closest
Sequoia grove to the museum, previously surrounded by
visitor lodging, today an interpretive trail circles
the meadow. The area around the Sherman Tree, the largest
living thing on earth – 2,500 years old, was particularly
impacted by parking and traffic congestion. This project
relocated parking ½ mile away on a previously
disturbed site out of the sequoia grove. A trail connects
the parking to the Sherman tree, shuttle service and
accessible parking are located on Generals Highway near
the tree.
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Project
Resources
Over the twenty year lifespan of this project there have been literally hundreds of employees in the National Park Service and private sector involved. The following resources represent the project team at the end of the project and key project managers and designers throughout.
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Project
Managers:
Ray Todd, Henry Espinosa, Marv Wall, Mike Giller
Job Captain/Landscape Architects:
Joanne Cody, ASLA, Suzy Stutzman, ASLA, Susan Spain,
Bob Steinholtz, Mark Tabor, ASLA, Peetz Quintero,
Jon Mitchell, Joe Crystal, FASLA, Hugh Duffy, ASLA, Cam Hugie, Bob Chamberland
DHM Design - Bob Smith, FASLA, Dick
Marshall, FASLA, Andrea Lind, ASLA, Roger Burkhart,
ASLA, Bill Neumann, ASLA
Architects:
Dave Battle, Tim Stacks, OZ architecture, EHDD,
BRS - Craig Bouck
Exhibits Planner:
Don Kodak, PJ Lewis
Wayside Designer:
Harpers Ferry Center - Rich Helman, Chad Beale, John Grabowska
Exhibit Designer:
Howard Revis Design Services
Engineers:
Mechanical - Andy Roberts, Wray Kleihege
Electrical - Chuck Svoboda
Structural – Brian Tallent, Dan Tower
Civil – Steve Bainbridge, Dan Overzet
Geotechnical – Mark Matheny
Martin and Martin – Ray Tuttle, Bruce Haynes,
Bill Willis, Todd Bunker, Kleinfelder Geotechnical Engineering, RTW Engineering |
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Sequoia National Park Design Team:
Park Superintendent - Tom Ritter, Michael Tollefson, Dick Martin
Chief of Interpretation - Bill Tweed
Chief of Matintenace - Scott Ruesch
Resource Management Specialist - Jeff Manley
Project Coordinator - Jack Vance
Ecologist - Athena Demetry, Rich Thiel
Interpretive Specialist - Malinee Crapsey
Budget Analyst - Joan Russell
Facility Manager - Paul Slinde
District Ranger - Tom Tschohl
CCM - Peggy Williams
Trails Supervisor - Steve Moffit
Trail Crew Leader - Tyler Johnson
Cultural
Resource Specialist:
Frank Williss
Natural Resource Specialist:
David Lee
Contracting Specialist:
Terry Lang
Contracting Officer:
Rod Keiscome
CADD:
Dan Savage, Tom Zinke
Print and Repro:
George Gilbert, Mike Middagh
Construction Management:
Willie DeOcampo
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