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William Croft, (+44) 61-445 1210, Individual, Giant Sequoia Preservation Act, 3 /3/94 



be a welcome alternative to the National Park groves, a place where one 

 can find peace, solitude and a glimpse of the sequoias as the Native 

 Americans and first white explorers saw them. The great rarity of these 

 superb groves alone is worth their preserving. 



The scientific value of the sequoia groves is at least as great. The 

 sequoia groves constitute a rare remnant of old-growth Sierra mixed- 

 conifer forest, home to many bird and animal species that are in danger 

 of extinction, such as the fisher, pine marten, California spotted owl and 

 goshawk. They provide nesting sites for the Federally endangered 

 California condor. The sequoia's closest forest associate is the sugar 

 pine, the largest pine in the world, whose future is threatened by insects, 

 disease and periods of drought. 



The recreational and scientific value of the sequoia groves are 

 enough to merit their protection. As part of the general timber base of 

 the Sequoia and Sierra National Forests, the sequoia groves do not 

 possess statutory protection. However, the Forest Service for the most 

 part refrained from logging in the giant sequoia groves and in 

 particular in the virgin sequoia groves. In fact, in the 1950s the Forest 

 Service engaged in several land exchanges in order to preserve many 

 sequoia groves that were in private inholdings and were directly 

 threatened by logging. (Those groves that were not transferred to pubhc 

 ownership, such as Dillonwood Grove, were logged and even clearcut 

 of their magnificent sequoias in the 1940s and 1950s.) Yet in the 1980s, 

 the Forest Service abandoned its own regulations that "protected" the 

 virgin giant sequoia groves, and logged intensively until halted by 

 pubhc outcry and legal action. From 1982 to 1987, the Forest Service 

 logged at least 1800 acres of 9 virgin groves totalling 3080 acres in size 

 (acreage estimates based on my field observations). Logging was 

 concentrated in the largest groves; many of the small (under 200 acres) 

 groves have clearcuts next to them. At least 1000 acres were clearcut 

 except for large giant sequoias and 8(X) acres were selectively logged. 

 Groves that the Forest Service "saved" from logging in the 1950s were 

 logged by the same Forest Service in the 1980s. Also, a small unit of 

 second-growth sequoias were clearcut in one grove (Converse Basin). 

 This was all done at a tremendous cost to the taxpayer. The American 

 people lost on all counts; recreation, biological value, and timber value. 



AH three ranger districts in Sequoia National Forest that contain 

 sequoias saw logging activity deliberately targeting the sequoia groves. 

 In the Hume Lake District, second-growth giant sequoias were clearcut 

 in Converse Basin, once the finest giant sequoia grove existing. Logging 

 of all trees but the sequoias was done right up to the Kings Canyon 

 National Park boundary, just across from the finest stand of sequoias in 

 Redwood Mountain grove — not unlike the rapacious actions of the 

 timber companies next to Redwood National Park in the 1960s and 



