Save Our Sequoias bill should be introduced in June

There’s a good chance legislation specially designed to preserve the Giant Sequoias will be introduced on the federal level in Congress in June.

The Save Our Sequoias bill would provide funding and resources specifically for the preservation of the Giant Sequoias and would guarantee that fund and resources over 10 years.

An update on the status of the legislation was presented to the Tulare County Board of Supervisors at their meeting on Tuesday. The update was provided as part of a presentation made by David Wetmore with Carpi & Clay on federal legislation and its impact on the county. Wetmore lobbies at the federal level on behalf of the county.

“Sense of urgency” is the term that keeps being used when it comes to the effort to save the Giant Sequoias. As far as the Save Our Sequoias legislation that’s expected to be introduced in Congress, Tulare County Supervisor Dennis Townsend said, “If we wait until three years from now, it’s too late. We’ve got to do it immediately.”

Sequoia National Forest Service officials have stated the lack of resources they have when it comes to being able to manage the forest has contributed greatly to the severity of the Castle Fire in 2020 and last year’s Windy Fire. Those two fires combined to kill up to 20 percent of the world’s Giant Sequoias.

The Windy Fire nearly took out the Trail of 100 Giants and if not for the management that was able to be done in the grove, forest officials say it’s likely that grove would have been lost

forever.

Forest officials said a tremendous amount of management work needs to be done to clear all of the Sequoia National Forest’s groves from all of the density and fuels that need to be cleared. They say the don’t really have the resources to do so, but the Save Our Sequoias legislation would address that issue.

Numerous dead and downed trees in the forest need to be cleared and the legislation would streamline the process and give forest officials more control in being able to do that.

Sequoia National Forest Director Teresa Benson said the forest service’s No. 1 priority is to continue to clear the Trail of 100 Giants of all the density and fuels that needs to be cleared. The Trail of the 100 Giants was reopened to the public on Friday.

Benson added in a perfect scenario if the forest was properly managed only prescribed burns would be needed every 10 years as far as management is concerned. But she said before prescribed burns can be done in areas such as the Alder Creek Grove, which was devastated by the Castle Fire, the areas must first undergo other measures.

She did say the prescribed burning that has been lacking over the last 100 years is vital to the management of the forest.

The Save Our Sequoias legislation is a bipartisan effort. Drafts of the legislation have been written and Townsend said he’s been able to see the drafts and comment on them. The final version of the bill is expected to be introduced in June.

The bipartisan effort to preserve the Sequoias received momentum on May 5 when a bipartisan group of Congressmen took a tour of the devastation of the Alder Creek Grove and the Trail of 100 Giants. Those attending were Republican Representatives Kevin Mccarthy, David Valadao and Bruce Westerman, a ranking member of the House Committee of Natural Resources, and Democratic Congressman Jimmy Panetta, Scott Peters and Jim Costa.

After the tour the legislators, forest officials and various others from numerous agencies and organizations participated in a round table discuss at California Hot Springs. Townsend said he was impressed that everyone was in agreement on what needed to be done — and that it needed to be done now.

“They all had that sense of urgency,” said Townsend at Tuesday’s board meeting. “To keep this focus out in front of all the legislators will be the most advantageous.”

Senator Dianne Feinstein and Panetta have been working on the Wildfire Emergency Act. The legislation would provide resources to deal with wildfires, including forest restoration, but isn’t specific to the Sequoias.

But Panetta did participate in the bipartisan tour and Wetmore said on Tuesday Feinstein is supportive of the Save Our Sequoias legislation.

Townsend said “there’s a pretty good chance” of the legislation being passed because it’s specific to the Sequoias and it’s bipartisan.

“That gives it a little bit of a boost,” he said. “Because it was focused on the Giant Sequoias they think they have a better shot to get it through.”