Ashtyn Perry was barely as tall as the shovel she stomped into barren ground where a wildfire last year ravaged the California mountain community of Sequoia Crest and destroyed dozens of its signature behemoth trees. The 13-year-old with a broad smile and a braid running to her waist had a higher purpose that — if successful — she'll never live to see: to plant a baby sequoia that could grow into a giant and live for millennia. The bright green seedling that barely reached Perry's knees is part of an unusual project to plant offspring from some of the largest and oldest trees on the planet to see if genes that allowed the parent to survive so long will protect new growth from the perils of climate change.
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Hope after wildfire: Tiny sequoias could grow into giants
