19 



Statement of the Honorcible Cal Dooley 



before the Subcotrenittee on Specialty Crops and Natural Resources 



H.R. 2153, the Giant Sequoia Preservation Act of 1993 



March 9, 1994 



Mr. Chairman, I would like to take this opportunity to thank 

 you for letting me sit in with your subcommittee for this hearing 

 on H.R. 2153, the Giant Sequoia Preservation Act of 1993. I feel 

 very strongly that this bill is the wrong solution to ensure the 

 future vicJDility of giant sequoia in our National Forests. Many 

 of my constituents share this view, and several of them have 

 traveled to Washington today to testify at this hearing. First 

 is Larry Duysen from Sierra Forest Products, which is situated in 

 Terra Bella, California. Second is Jack Shannon, a rancher from 

 Porterville, California. Third is Jeff Lilley, representing Hume 

 Lake Christian Cair^. And, finally, Frank Schlitz, a contractor 

 with a home in the Sequoia National Forest. All of these folks 

 have taken time away from running their businesses to let you and 

 the other members of the Subcommittee know how misguided H.R. 

 2153 is. 



As you know, H.R. 2153 would set up a 442,425-acre forest 

 preserve encompassing land from the Sierra and Sequoia national 

 forests. All logging would be prohibited in the preserve. In 

 addition, mining and geothermal exploration would be prohibited, 

 and over time grazing would be prohibited. 



I think that a few things must be made clear from the 

 outset. First, it is misleading for the proponents of this 

 legislation to insinuate that all the remaining giant sequoia 

 groves can be found in the Sierra and Sequoia national forests. 

 In fact, the majority of giamt sequoia groves are in Yosemite, 

 Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks and on state-owned land, 

 county- owned Ismd and privately owned land. 



Second, it is important to understand that a forest preserve 

 is a new public land designation and would require federal 

 expenditure to maintain. I am aware that the Congressional 

 Budget Office (CBO) has completed a cost-estimate of H.R. 2153 

 and has determined that implementation of this legislation would 

 result in direct federal spending that would be subject to the 

 pay-as-you-go provisions of the budget act. 



The giant sequoia trees are truly a national treasure and I 

 strongly support efforts to protect them. However, H.R. 2153 is 

 a drastic and unnecessary piece of legislation that would ban all 

 logging in huge sections of two national forests. I believe that 

 sound management practices to protect the giant sequoia trees can 

 include logging in other areas of the forests. To this end, I 

 strongly support the provisions of the mediated settlement 

 agreement that was reached for the Sequoia National Forest. The 

 agreement prescribes management practices for giant sequoia 

 groves . 



