ACTION ALERT

TRAIL BULLDOZED IN GIANT SEQUOIA NATIONAL MONUMENT

A trail into Freeman Creek Sequoia Grove in the Giant Sequoia National Monument has been bulldozed and turned into a jeep road.

The Freeman Creek Grove is one of the few groves in the monument that has not been logged or had roads cut into it. The grove provides habitat for old growth-dependent species such as the Pacific fisher, and the creek itself sustains a population of native trout.

The roadwork was done without public notice. No public input was solicited, and the provisions for public participation mandated by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) were not followed.
The Forest Service claims that the project was “trail maintenance,” and as such does not fall under NEPA. But turning a footpath into a roadbed that can accommodate jeeps and off-road vehicles (ORVs) is much more than “maintenance.”

According to Sierra Club activists from the Sequoia Task Force, the roadwork has spilled loose dirt downslope toward the creek, which will inevitably find its way into the creekbed. Sequoia roots have been cut through, and many trees of other species have been taken out.

The new road is usable by ORVs, and the Sequoia Task Force reports that the noise-polluting, destructive vehicles have been seen driving on it already.

The monument already had 1,200 miles of vehicle roads. It doesn’t need one more, and neither do the fishers, condors and other wild creatures whose habitat is found in the groves.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Write to Nancy C. Ruthenbeck, Supervisor of Sequoia National Forest, and protest the building of this illegal road. Ask for the original trailbed to be restored, and the trail made unusable by ORVs or other motorized vehicles.

Acting Forest Supervisor Nancy C. Ruthenbeck
Sequoia National Forests
1839 South Newcomb Street
Porterville, CA 93257
559-784-1500
Fax: 559-781-4744

Also write to your representative and senators and tell them that this latest outrage from the Forest Service is one more proof that the administration of Giant Sequoia National Monument should be handed over to the National Park Service. Ask them to support the Act to Save America’s Forests, S. 1897 (Corzine).

You can reach your representative by calling the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and giving your zip code.

Write to senators Boxer and Feinstein at their local offices:

Sen. Barbara Boxer
1700 Montgomery St., Suite 240
San Francisco, Ca 94111
415-403-0100
Fax: 415-956-6701

Sen. Dianne Feinstein
One Post St., Suite 2450
San Francisco, CA 94104
415-393-0707
Fax: 415-393-0710

To see a gallery of full-color photos showing the destructive logging in Giant Sequoia National Monument, visit the Forests Forever website at:

https://www.forestsforever.org//archives_resources/chainsaws_cathedral.html