Pause to enjoy a southern overview of Sequim and you’ll notice a perfectly pointed evergreen cone standing tall over the city. At close to 100 feet, this is Sequim’s tallest tree, a giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) that resides on the western border of Pioneer Memorial Park.

These trees can only be described with superlatives. Giant sequoias are the world’s largest single trees (California’s “General Sherman” rises 275 feet and weighs 4.1 million pounds), the largest living organisms (by volume), and are among Earth’s oldest living things; the oldest living sequoia is 2,200 years old, the oldest recorded: 3,300 years.

Humankind has anticipated sunrises for 200,000 years. Giant sequoias have relished first light for 240 million years.

Sequim’s sequoia is a mere youngster, less than 50 years growing. It wasn’t there in 1966 when Bell Creek was piped underground removing the marsh that was flooding its site. Sequoias only reproduce by seed, so its arrival is attributed to either wind, bird or human.

Unfortunately, the tree has become a pest. City workers recently skirted the tree to a height of 40 feet because its sheltering ground level branches were providing a cozy place for some to have a smoke, while falling branches and needles were causing another fire hazard on the roof of the commercial building beside it.

Sequoias have shallow, but extensive root systems that spread more than 50 feet from the trunk. They are “family trees” surviving winds and lightening strikes by intertwining their roots with those of other sequoias in their grove.

Isolated trees don’t have that advantage, becoming increasingly unstable as they grow taller.

Sequim’s giant sequoia might be a fated tree. We should relish this young giant — this “wrong tree in the wrong place” — for the remaining few centuries it might remain with us.

Do you know a tree with a story? An unusual tree? A very large tree? We’d like to know about it. Contact us at news@sequimgazette.com.