26 



STATEMENT OF JACK WARD THOMAS, CHIEF, FOREST 

 SERVICE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



Mr. J. Thomas. I would note that sitting behind me is Ron Stew- 

 art, who is the regional forester from California, and Sandra Key, 

 who is the forest supervisor on the Sequoia, the national forest in 

 question, so if they whisper in my ear a lot, it is because they know 

 the answers and I do not. 



Mr. Chairman and members, thank you for the opportunity to 

 present the views of the Department of Agriculture regarding H.R. 

 2153, the Giant Sequoia Preservation Act of 1993. 



Although we are in agreement with many of the purposes of H.R. 

 2153, the Department of Agriculture recommends that this bill not 

 be enacted. 



First, let me say that I am honored to deliver my first testimony 

 to this important subcommittee as Chief of the Forest Service. I 

 look forward to developing a good working relationship. 



I want to start off by sharing my core values which affect how 

 I approach my new job that I think are germane. I share a land 

 ethic put forward by an early Forest Service employee named Aldo 

 Leopold, and I quote: "A thing is right when it tends to preserve 

 the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is 

 wrong when it tends otherwise." 



That ethic accepts short-term constraints on human treatment of 

 land to ensure long-term preservation of that integrity, stability, 

 and beauty. I believe that human activity that is consistent with 

 that ethic is properly within the realm of resource management op- 

 tions. 



To return to the business at hand concerning the legislation con- 

 sidered today, H.R. 2153 would designate approximately 442,425 

 acres of federally owned land within the Sequoia and Sierra Na- 

 tional Forests in California as the Giant Sequoia National Forest 

 Preserve. 



Giant sequoia trees are a national treasure, and the Forest Serv- 

 ice is fully committed to perpetuating the groves for present and 

 future generations. Perpetuation of the groves is the policy of the 

 Forest Service defined in the Regional Forester's Direction of 1991, 

 the Sequoia National Forest Mediated Settlement Agreement of 

 1990, and the Presidential Proclamation of 1992. 



Under existing policy, the Forest Service has withdrawn these 

 groves from the land base considered for timber production and 

 given perpetuation of the groves priority over all other manage- 

 ment considerations. We are currently mapping those groves and 

 will prepare management plans specific to each grove in full con- 

 sultation with Congress, the scientific community, interest groups, 

 and the public, to ensure that management proposals are scientif- 

 ically sound and socially acceptable. 



There is complete agreement within the scientific community, the 

 Forest Service, and the public that the groves must be preserved. 

 The question is how. 



Two general approaches have been advanced. The first approach, 

 represented by H.R. 2153, recommends withdrawing the groves 

 into a very large preserve that excludes or limits prescribed treat- 

 ment designed to perpetuate the groves, such as fuel reduction, 

 seedbed preparation, and competing vegetation removal. 



