Nelder Grove, a giant sequoia grove in California’s Sierra National Forest, preserves both a living forest and a layered human history. Long used by Mono, Miwok, Chuckchansi, Chowchillas, Paiute, and other Native peoples, it still contains mortar holes and other traces of that enduring presence. In the late 19th century, after settlement by John A. Nelder, intensive logging devastated the grove, cutting hundreds of sequoias and reducing a population once thought to number about 400 mature trees. Later federal protection did not end its vulnerability: fire exclusion and the 2017 Railroad Fire caused further losses, leading to major restoration work before the grove reopened in 2026.