Place: Giant Sequoia National Monument (California)
Threat: Logging
 Commonly
growing to 250 feet high and 15 feet across, giant sequoia trees are the largest
living trees on Earth and -- with lifespans of 3,000 years or more -– they
are some of the
longest surviving organisms on Earth.
Giant Sequoia National Monument in California shelters
more than half the giant sequoias in existence, in several large groves, and
also provides essential habitat for the California spotted owl, Pacific
fisher, and myriad other plants and animals. Hikers,
campers,
horseback
riders,
anglers,
hunters,
and
skiers visit the Monument and are inspired by these magnificent cathedral forests.
The
fight to protect the giant sequoias of California’s Sierra Nevada range began
in the early 1900s with Sierra Club founder John Muir. Unfortunately, when Sequoia
National Park was founded, over half the groves were left out. And in the 1980s,
the Forest Service began clearcutting in those groves -- supposely to help
germination of Sequoia trees! Sierra Club stopped the clearcuts and pressed for
permanent protection. Finally, in 2000, the
Giant
Sequoia
National
Monument was established by President Bill Clinton, and 327,800 acres were set
aside
to
protect
this
national
symbol.
The Monument proclamation reads: "These forests need
restoration to counteract the effects of a century of fire
suppression and logging." Unfortunately, in January 2004
the Forest Service released a final Monument
Management Plan that runs contrary to the spirit and
intent of the Monument proclamation. The agency affirmed its decision a year
later.
Instead of restoring
the forests, the Bush administration policy calls for the
removal of large, healthy, fire-resistant trees up to thirty inches in diameter
-- even
within the sequoia groves! This is more
logging than would have been allowed had the area not
been proclaimed a Monument.
"The federal government created Giant Sequoia National Monument to protect these rare
ancient giants for all Americans," read one editorial from the Los Angeles Times. ("From
Giants to Hot Tubs," January 29, 2003) "The Bush administration seems to think they
have a higher purpose as decks and hot tubs."
In contrast, Sequoia National Park, adjacent to the Monument, is restoring
its giant sequoia ecosystem through the careful use of prescribed fire and
a conservative use of
small-tree thinning that is typically used a small distance from structures to
protect them from the threat of fire. Over several decades the Park Service
has made considerable progress in returning
a natural
fire cycle
to the ecosystem and increasing sequoia regeneration while avoiding harmful logging.
Says Joe Fontaine, Vice Chair of the Sierra Club's Sequoia Task Force, "There's
no reason why what's working in Sequoia National Park couldn't work in Sequoia
National
Monument. There is a clearly better way to manage the Monument than to log the
big,
fire-resistant trees."
Help protect Giant Sequoia National Monument by signing our petition to President
Bush.
Sierra Club Contacts:
Bill Corcoran, California: (310) 490-3419
Barbara Boyle, California: (916) 557-1100
Joe Fontaine, California: (661) 821-2055
Carla Cloer, Chair, Sequoia Task Force: carla.cloer@kernkaweah.sierraclub.org
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