Black Mountain Grove, Protected sequoia forest in Tulare County, California.
Black Mountain Grove is a protected sequoia forest in Tulare County containing over 500 large trees across 3,310 acres of land. The grove sits between the Middle and South Forks of Tule River in the Sierra Nevada foothills.
In 1987 the Sierra Club sued over the Solo Timber Sale to halt logging in the grove; the judgment ordered the groves restored to their natural state. The 1990 Mediated Settlement Agreement extended the grove boundaries and banned timber harvesting within them. In 1992 President Bush visited the large sequoias and backed full protection from harvesting, mining and development.
The grove lies partly within the Tule River Indian Reservation, and the reservation's presence is a land fact rather than a visitor attraction: the grove is also partly inside Giant Sequoia National Monument and partly in private ownership. The Tule River tribe's reservation was established in the 19th century; the grove's sequoias stand on this divided land today.
The grove lies between the Middle and South Forks of the Tule River, partly within Giant Sequoia National Monument, the Tule River Indian Reservation and private land. Access is by forest road or cross-country hiking; no maintained trail is described in the sources. Summer is hot and dry, winter cold, and dead wood has accumulated since 2003.
The grove's largest tree, Black Mountain Beauty, has a volume of 32,224 cubic feet (912.5 m3). Nearby stands Blasted Mammoth, once possibly the grove's biggest tree, now broken off about 90 feet (27 m) above ground yet still alive.
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