49 



through it there. There is a trail that goes through the bottom of 

 this tree. 



The tradition is that, as you pass through, you reach out your 

 hand and you make a wish. This past weekend, instead of my 

 usual wish as a teenager, which was for fame or Robert Redford 

 or something like that, my wish is much more serious, and it is 

 that countless future generations of children will be able to reach 

 out and touch this tree and make their wishes. 



Thank you. 



[The prepared statement of Ms. Cloer appears at the conclusion 

 of the hearing.] 



Mr. Rose. Thank you very much. I would like to ask that Mr. 

 McCloskey, Mr. Boyd, Mr. Wolf, and Mr. Litton, whoever is speak- 

 ing, please help us as best you can to summarize your comments. 

 The record will show your statements in their entirety. But I am 

 going to sit here and try to distill what you have to say, and if you 

 will give it to me in about a 5-minute bite, I will appreciate it. But 

 that is really your call. 



Mr. McCloskey, chairman of the Sierra Club. Glad to have you, 

 sir. 



STATEMENT OF MICHAEL McCLOSKEY, CHAIRMAN, SIERRA 

 CLUB, ACCOMPANIED BY MARTIN LITTON, SEQUOIA ALLI- 

 ANCE, ALSO ON BEHALF OF THE NATIONAL AUDUBON 

 SOCIETY 



Mr. McCloskey. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 



I am testifying here today both on behalf of the Sierra Club na- 

 tionally and the National Audubon Society, which asked to be asso- 

 ciated with these remarks. 



Both of our organizations do support Mr. Brown's bill, H.R. 2153. 

 As the largest living things in the world, we think these sequoias 

 are indeed a heritage for the entire world. Indeed, I think most 

 people, if asked, who follow the status of protected area questions, 

 would rather imagine that all of the giant sequoias were already 

 in protected areas. But as we know, less than half of them are in 

 national parks or State parks. The remaining portions of them are 

 found mainly in the Sequoia National Forest. 



The Forest Service did protect them for many years administra- 

 tively. I was told by the regional recreation officer in San Francisco 

 in the mid-1960's that the Sierra Club and the environmental com- 

 munity could rely on the Forest Service to always protect the se- 

 quoias and their environs; they would never be endangered. 



But that policy changed abruptly in the early 1980's. As we have 

 seen with the slides, logging of other species in the sequoia groves 

 began, and indeed, some sequoias themselves were taken. We have 

 seen sequoia logs in recent years actually lying on the ground. 



The remaining sequoias in these clearcut areas are subject to 

 wind throw and the effects of drying winds, and their 

 microclimates are being radically changed. 



These changes in Forest Service policy did trigger a strongly ad- 

 verse reaction from environmentally minded citizens. Protests and 

 lawsuits developed, and that led to a cessation of logging in the 

 groves under the settlement agreement we have heard so much 

 about. 



