DUNLAP, Calif. — Approaching Sequoia National Forest on Highway 180 out of Fresno on a spring day, you get the impression you've come as near to paradise as it is possible to get in this mortal sphere.
Yellow wildflowers cover patches of meadow against a backdrop of alpine grandeur as hawks soar placidly overhead. Looking back down toward the San Joaquin Valley, you see thousands of acres of orderly fruit orchards and vineyards. Orange blossoms overwhelm the air with sweet perfume.
In a field next to the highway, a small herd of cattle finds relief from the mid-morning sun under a large shade tree.
Entering the mouth of the canyon leading to two national parks — Sequoia and Kings Canyon — you catch site of an attractive church building off on the left side of the road. Wondering what congregation is lucky — or blessed — enough to have its house of worship in this idyllic setting, you soon learn the answer from a sign bearing the words: "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Sequoia Branch; Visitors Welcome."
Organized March 15, 1988, as part of the Hanford California Stake, the Sequoia Branch, of course, takes its name from the mammoth conifers that characterize this part of the Sierra Nevada range and are California's state tree.
The world's largest living thing in terms of volume (redwood trees grow taller but are more slender) a typical sequoia grows to a height of 311 feet and a weight of 2.7 million pounds. Its bark can get up to 31 inches thick, branches up to 8 feet in diameter and its base up to 40 feet in diameter. Sequoias have lived as long as 3,200 years. Resistant to fire and insect damage, sequoias don't die of old age; they eventually topple over from sheer size and weight.
Looking at the 275-foot-tall General Sherman Tree in the Giant Forest of Sequoia National Park, with its 103-foot base circumference, one marvels at how such a thing could come from the oat-flake-size seeds that produce a sequoia tree.
Like a giant sequoia, the Sequoia Branch had tiny beginnings.
It was formed in June 1986 as a dependent branch under the bishopric of the Reedley Ward. Floyd B. Smith, the current branch president, was called to work with Jack Stubbs in organizing it. Brother Stubbs, a rancher, became the first branch president, and the tiny flock met at his home in Squaw Valley for about a year.
Within two years, about 34 people were regularly attending meetings, and the branch was organized as an independent unit. It met in a larger, rented house for about four years before moving into the attractive new edifice it currently occupies.
The building is so distinctive that it often draws vacationers dressed in casual clothes to Sunday services during tourist season. Normally, some 70 people attend sacrament meeting each week.
But the real magnet is Scouting, according to Sheldon W. Feigel, recently released from the branch presidency to serve as Scoutmaster/Varsity coach/Venture crew leader.
"On Wednesday nights, when we hold Scout meetings, we'll have more than 100 people here at the meetinghouse," he said. "But we have only eight Aaronic Priesthood-age boys in the branch."
The people stream in from throughout the branch's immense geographic boundaries, which extend east to the national parks, north to Pine Flat Reservoir, south to the rural community of Dunlap, and west to Squaw Valley.
They manage to attract such a multitude by taking care of everyone, Brother Feigel said.
The Scout troop, Number 416, includes 35 boys who are not members of the Church. Young Women activities are also held on Wednesday nights, and only eight of the 25 who attend are Church members; the rest, in most cases, are sisters of the boys attending Scouts. And Cub Scout meetings are held for the 18 or so younger boys who come, only five of whom are members of the Church.
What about the parents who bring their sons and daughters to the meetinghouse? "We tell them, 'We have something for you, too,' " Brother Feigel said. They are channeled into the branch family history center, located on the east side of the building and containing access to the Church's vast genealogical resources.
It is easy to see why the Scouting program in the Sequoia Branch would be so attractive. It is located within one of the most perfect areas of the world for Scouting activities. Within minutes, the troop can be in a national forest or one of two national parks — and without having to worry about violating Church guidelines pertaining to distance traveled.
On Memorial Day weekend (the last weekend in May), for example, Brother Feigel wanted to take his youth to a campground along Kings River. The campground was closed as it was being cleaned and prepared.
"I told the caretakers I would make them a deal," he said. "We would bring up 20 Scouts and clean the campsite for permission to camp there. So we moved into this closed campsite and spent a couple of days there; the Ventures took off into the bush and the younger boys stayed at the group campsite. Everybody worked on a ton of stuff. The caretakers were thrilled, and it worked out perfectly."
As if its proximity to a national forest and two national parks were not enough, the branch has its own 13-acre, developed campground in back of the meetinghouse — with a creek flowing through it year round.
President Smith speaks nonchalantly about the wildlife that frequently strolls through the meetinghouse grounds, including bobcats, raccoons, opossums, coyotes, skunks, rabbits and turkeys. They can be something of a nuisance, he said, pointing to where wild pigs had disturbed some of the immaculate landscaping.
Wild pigs?
Yes. They are descendants of herds brought to central California in the 1600s to provide food for workers, President Smith said. Over the years, some domestic herds have been turned loose and have inbred with them, making for quite a thriving population.
People, not just wild animals, are attracted to the meetinghouse — and they avail themselves of the programs conducted therein. Thus, like the giant sequoias for which it is named, the branch has grown from tiny beginnings to make its influence pervasive among the residents of this paradise in the Sierra foothills.
E-mail: rscott@desnews.com