Emergency action planned to save giant sequoia trees from wildfires

The move aims to save giant sequoias from the growing threat of wildfires (Noah Berger/AP)

The US Forest Service is taking emergency action to save giant sequoias, speeding up projects to clear underbrush to protect the world’s largest trees from the increasing threat of wildfires.

The move to bypass some parts of an environmental review could cut years off the normal approval process required to cut smaller trees in national forests and use intentionally-lit, low-intensity fires to reduce dense brush that has helped fuel raging wildfires that have killed up to 20% of all large sequoias over the past two years.