Bennett Juniper Field Work

Mother Lode Land Trust staff and volunteers traveled to the Bennett Juniper preserve on July 29th and 30th to monitor and work on the property. Participants escaped the heat of the lower elevations to enjoy some beautiful late-blooming wildflowers in the high country.  

The Bennett Juniper is the land trust’s newest fee acquisition property. In 2023 MLLT accepted the property from Save the Redwoods League. The 3-acre parcel is surrounded by Stanislaus National Forest in Tuolumne County. The site is publicly accessible from dawn to dusk, when the Forest Service roads are open for the season.

The Bennett Juniper is the largest juniper of any type listed in the National Register of Big Trees. It stands at 78 feet tall with a DBH of 12.7 feet, and is likely to have reached its atypical size because of access to plenty of water from its location in the Sardine Meadow. The magnificent tree is believed to be one of the oldest junipers in the region. While once thought to be as old as 3,000 years, recent interpretations of data place the tree between 2,000 and 2,300 years old.

Staff and volunteers were busy installing signs, adding height to a fence by the tree, repairing a footbridge, and painting benches and bridges. It’s always a treat to be able to work in such a scenic setting.

If you are interested in participating in a volunteer workday, please contact us to be on our contact list. We appreciate partners in protecting special places of the Mother Lode and Central Sierra region.