Supervisors to take up monument review

Board not seeking reduction in size

Supervisors for Tulare County will consider Tuesday sending a letter to the United States Department of Interior calling for better forest management of the Giant Sequoia National Monument in Sequoia National Forest.

Unlike the Porterville City Council which considered a letter supporting the reduction in size of the monument from 328,000 acres to approximately 90,000 acres, the supervisors are only calling for better management of the monument which includes scores of giant sequoia groves.

On a 3-2 vote, the Porterville City Council rejected sending the letter calling for a reduction in the size of the monument, and instead agreed to send a letter asking for better management and for the forest service to build the promised visitor center. Both of those requests have been ignored in the past.

In April, President Donald Trump ordered a review of 27 national monuments across the country, including Sequoia National Forest. As part of that process by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, public comments are being taken until July 10.

The Secretary of the Interior is reviewing the monuments to determine whether each designation or expansion conforms to the policy stated in the Executive Order and to formulate recommendations for presidential actions, legislative proposals, or other appropriate actions to carry out that policy. The secretary has already recommended one monument be reduced in size.

The Giant Sequoia National Monument was established by President Bill Clinton in 2000.

“At the time (in 2000), local elected officials, including the Board of Supervisors, were not given the opportunity to comment on the proposed designation and felt the process was not allocated enough time to gather public opinion in support or against the designation,” states the letter to be considered by the board.

The monument carves out a big portion of what was left of Sequoia National Forest after several wilderness areas were declared. The monument covers most of the forest above Porterville, with the exception of the Tule River Indian Reservation and Mountain Home State Forest, and other state land.

The monument was created because of the giant sequoia groves which are home to some of the oldest living things in the world. For years the groves were the target of environmentalists

who wanted to protect them.

During the Porterville City Council meeting, several people spoke in favor of leaving the monument alone.

However, supervisors note in their letter the same things the city’s letter notes, and that is the lack of management has made the forest less healthy and more at risk of tree mortality and fire.

The county’s letter points out there are more than 8 million dead trees in the local forest and the number of acres (62,000) which have burned in the past few years.

“We believe the current National Monument

designation has constrained the ability of the U.S. Forest Service to use sciencebased, active forest management to thin the adjacent forests to protect the groves and buffer the areas from the risks posed by fire, disease, and insect infestations. Over the past two years, 20 percent

of the GSNM burned, including 62,000 acres in the 2015 Rough Fire. The continued failure to use science-based, active forest management in the GSNM to remove hazard trees threatens the Giant Sequoia Groves, as well as the rest of the forest in the National Monument,” states the letter.

The item is slated to be taken up as an untimed item which could be heard at any time before or after the scheduled hearings which are to begin at 9:30 a.m.

The board will meet at 9 a.m. Tuesday in supervisor chambers at 2800 W. Burrel Ave. in Visalia.