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Within the National Forest there are many recreational services that are 

 provided by camps and associations such as ours. They include, but are not 

 limited to, Christian camps and conference centers, organizational camps. Boy 

 and Girl Scouts of America, the YMCA, camps for the disabled, camps for 

 diabetics, camps for disadvantaged, at risk youth, outdoor education and 

 science education programs. In addition to these there are mountain bike 

 associations, four-wheel drive clubs, horseback riding programs, trail and river 

 guide services. People use the forest. People visit a park (usually spending 

 just enough time to have a picnic, buy a bumper sticker, and go home). 



There are also people who make their homes within the National Forest. 

 Many own the property they live on, while others are lease-holders. These are 

 people who not only appreciate and value the forest, they live there. It is their 

 home. 



For those of us who use, visit, and live in the Sequoia National Forest this 

 bill affects us in several ways. First, the proper management of the forest from a 

 "good" scientific base is what is needed. This is what we teach in our outdoor 

 and environmental education programs. What this bill purposes would threaten 

 forest health, endanger homes, property, lives, and ultimately the very trees this 

 bill is supposed to protect! We would have a hard time teaching such 

 principles in any environmental program. 



Secondly, we have seen enough restrictions on property already to know 

 that calling this area a preserve with the intention to "Restore to a natural state" 

 will ultimately be interpreted in such a way as to eliminate any impact man 

 might have either now, or in the future. Our concern falls into several areas: 



1 . The control of water rights by the Secretary of Agriculture. 



2. The permanent closure of roads (to be determined by the Secretary) 



3. The "return to a natural state" obviously eliminates any evidence of man 



(though both the Monache and the Tulatulabai people lived in the 

 Southern Sierras for years). 



4. Hunting and fishing would be limited to selected areas chosen by the 



Secretary. 



5. No future development within the preserve. 



6. Allowing the forest to return back to a natural fire cycle. 



7. Access would be limited and controlled by the Secretary. 



A lot of the problems with HR2153 comes from incorrect assumptions 

 made in the "Findings" section of the bill (section 2). Because there were so 

 many problems there we will analyze many of the findings below. 



FINDINGS 



Sec 2(1) 



"The Giant Sequoia trees (Sequoiadendron giganteum), the 

 largest of all trees and the most majestic of all living things, are 

 native to only a small part of the Sierra Nevada range in California. 



