PROTECT THE GIANT SEQUOIAS
In contradiction of the clear protective intent and language of the Proclamation, the Forest Service%u2019s proposed Management Plan for the Giant Sequoia National Monument is centered on logging, rather than protecting the monument%u2019s resources for future generations.
I request that the U.S. Congress support legislation turning control of the Giant Sequoia National Monument over to the National Park Service, whose record in protecting National Monuments is far superior to the management proposed by the Forest Service.
In contradiction of the clear protective intent and language of the Proclamation, the Forest Service%u2019s proposed Management Plan for the Giant Sequoia National Monument is centered on logging, rather than protecting the monument%u2019s resources for future generations.
I request that the U.S. Congress support legislation turning control of the Giant Sequoia National Monument over to the National Park Service, whose record in protecting National Monuments is far superior to the management proposed by the Forest Service.
We, the undersigned, request that the U.S. Congress transfer the Giant Sequoia National Monument from control of the U.S. Forest Service into the care of the National Park Service.
The Giant Sequoia National Monument is located within the Sequoia National Forest in south-central California. The outer boundaries of the area encompass approximately 327,769 acres of federal land managed by the United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. In April, 2000, President Clinton issued a Presidential Proclamation (the Proclamation) which created the Giant Sequoia National Monument. The Proclamation states that monument status was necessary %u201Cto counteract the effects of a century of fire suppression and logging%u201D that had occurred within the Sequoia National Forest and to increase protection for the objects and species within the Monument. The Proclamation directs that the Monument lands are not within the timber base, commercial logging is not to occur within the Monument, and trees within the Monument are not to be removed except in extraordinary circumstances.
The Forest Service falsely claims %u201Cfire hazard reduction,%u201D %u201Cgrove enhancement,%u201D and %u201Cincreased recreational opportunities%u201D as reasons for logging trees up to 30 inches in diameter (which could be two centuries old or more). The Forest Service also falsely claims that creating two-acre mini-clearcuts within Sequoia groves is necessary for sequoia regeneration. The Forest Service%u2019s own scientists have found that these actions will create dramatic side effects within the Monument such as reduced water quality, increased fire hazards, and the decline of several sensitive and at-risk species such as the spotted owl and Pacific fisher.
It appears that ultimately our only hope for Giant Sequoia National Monument protection is for Congress to pass the Act to Save America's Forests, which would remove the Giant Sequoia National Monument from Forest Service control and place it in the care of the National Park Service. Sequoia ForestKeeper is working with Save America%u2019s Forests (SAF), located in Washington D.C., to educate congress about the damage to the Monument from Forest Service actions, so SAF can gather congressional support for the Act. The Act would also protect all national forests%u2019 roadless and wilderness areas nation-wide. The National Park Service has proved in its management practices that it is the appropriate agency to care for national parks and monuments. The Act to Save America's Forests is supported by many of the world's leading scientists, including Dr. E.O. Wilson, Dr. Jane Goodall, and the Union of Concerned Scientists, as well as over 100 members of Congress.
Giant Sequoias are the world%u2019s largest living things. These majestic trees can easily grow to over 300 feet with diameters approaching 40 feet. They weigh up to 600 tons. As well as being massive in size, sequoias are long-lived. Some specimens are 3,200 years old. To put this in perspective, some sequoia trees were seedlings in 1,000 BC, a time that predates Plato, Socrates, Confucius, and Buddha.
The Sequoia, a cousin to the coast redwood, occurs naturally only in the Sierra Nevada. Sequoia National Forest and Giant Sequoia National Monument contain more than half of the Sequoia groves in the world. As well as a sanctuary to these giants, this area is a complex and abundant forest ecosystem that is home to hundreds of plant and animal species, including the California condor, California spotted owl, and Pacific fisher.
Thank you for taking the time to give consideration to this important matter. The sequoias are a natural, national treasure that must be protected and preserved for future generations. We ask that you join Sequoia ForestKeeper in protecting the Giant Sequoia National Monument by transferring its management into the care of the National Park Service.
Our ancient forests are truly unique and help to define this great country. Please do all that you can to preserve these national treasures.
This proposed protection for the Giant Sequoia National Monument has dragg- ed on too long -- any kind of action is better than NO action -- come on fellow Sequoia Keepers', lets get with it and get the U.S. Congress into over-drive on this issue!! No time to wait!!
The US Forest Service has not earned my confidence. Clearly, the National Park Service can do a better job of caring for and making appropriately available to the American public the beautiful treasure we have in the Giant Sequoia National Monument.
We need to preserve the Sequoia National Monument as it is today. It's one of our last remaining treasures.
as a child the giant sequoias were one of the only things about the kern river valley that i actually liked. now as an adult they still are. don't let them be logged
The sequoia ecosystem is not replaceable, and is a world treasure over which we serve as caretakers. The NPS, unique among our nation's government agencies, has a well defined and clear mission to manage this great resource and protect it for the future, rather than run it for production, dictated by whatever direction current political winds blow.
Anyone who has ever seen the giant sequoias, that is anyone who doesn't view them as profit, would realize what a crime it would be to allow logging in the Giant Sequoia National Monument. Logging in the Giant Sequoia national monument would endanger wildlife habitat, expose the area to greater threat from fire and erosion, and be a crime against nature. The National Park Service, which has a much better record for protecting out national treasures, should be in control of protecting the National Monuments. If the generations to follow are ever to experience the beauty of wildlife habitats, the Giant Sequoia National monument and our National Parks and refuges, we had better protect them and their resources to save them from mismanagement.
The Giant Sequoias are naturally fire resistant. Allowing logging in the Giant Sequoia National Monument will make way for highly flammable scrub brush to grow where once these mighty trees stood and will defeat the stated purpose of allowing the logging.
I've been to the Giant Sequoias and they are absolutely beautiful. Please leave this area alone! Clearcutting is highly destructive to the natural environment. It effects everything!: • Destroying wildlife habitat and corridors and endangering native plants and animals; • Increasing soil erosion and sedimentation in rivers and streams, which increases the need for costly water treatment, diminishes the capacity of the state’s water storage facilities and harms wildlife; • Boosting the risk of intense wildfires by converting cool, moist forests into sun-baked slash piles and later to fire-prone tree plantations; • Degrading the state’s natural beauty, which in turn affects tourism, recreation, retirement and property values; and • Contributing to global warming by removing a major natural storage reservoir (standing vegetation) for carbon dioxide, and by exposing forest soils to accelerated weathering. Clearcutting in California has to be stopped! Please support a ban on clearcutting! We must preserve and protect California’s remaining forests for future generations to experience and enjoy.
Most of us signing this petition understand that the tiny little timbers large corporations and government agencies plant to replace these magnificant trees can never benefit the world in the same way. Please explain this to your friends and children who might not have this understanding.
The Sequoias are a remarkable ecosystem, which we need to protect, especially in this time of climate change.
Please do all you can to protect the Giant Sequoias in the National Monument and everywhere. Thank you, Robrt McAfee
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3:43 am PDT, May 31,
Abram Perlstein, California
I have visited and photographed the giant sequoias for many years. Logging them is utterly insane. Do the right thing and protect what little stands are left. Thank You. |
The beauty of the Sequoias and all of nature has an impact on human beings in a healing and inspiring way. Nature supports humanity with its abundant resources and it's important that we value our relationship to nature and protect it from harm. For to harm nature is to harm ourselves and to nurture it is to nurture mankind.
Please turn control over to the National Park service and not the Forest service.
"Together, we are the lungs of the earth" - Some wise person somewhere
It is time to protect what litttle nature we have left. Please help protect these ancient trees!!
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11:17 pm PDT, May 25,
Sophie Szeferowicz, France
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A previous petition signer suggested that Sequoia Monument be moved from management by the National Forest System to the National Park system. I do believe that is the only way to truly protect the Sequoia's in perpetuity as the mission of the National Park System is "a land of many uses", including logging.
These trees are an ancient part of the history of this country, far older than our occupation of it. They are a valuable part of our past, more valuable than temporary profit from logging, and worth all the effort it takes to preserve them.
I thought they were protected. It seems nothing is sacred anymore. Shame on the loggers.
The Sequoia National Monument proclamation clearly says that logging is incompatible with the Monument - water movement within the monument will be disrupted by any logging and will have long reaching impact on the already fragile remaining Giant Sequoia groves. Please prevent this from becoming a national issue by moving the monument into National Park Service management. Thank you.
The Sequoia National Forest here in the Sequoia National Park is one of the most beautiful and most visited of our nearby towns and cities. I live seventeen miles east of Lake Isabella, Ca. in Kern County and make a trip to the Sequoia's at least once or twice a here. Logging will kill the roots of the giant trees and cause the remaining ones to fall. Please protect these giant trees for us and for future generations.
