229 



ijUind of distmsetJ and dead . Il would lake several hour; of leslimonv and reams of paper lo 

 explain the number of substantive and procedural ways the Mediated Settlement has failed. 

 Our local Congressmen have also failed lo mention thai lawsuits and appeals continue despite 

 the Mediated Settlement. 



In short 



1. Tlie Mediated Settlement so highly praised by Congressmen Dooley, Lehman, 

 and Thomas, is a fraud. It will only last a few more years, and neither timber industry or 

 environmental groups are likely to come to the negotiating table agam. ITie mediated 

 Settlement addressed a 1980s Forest Management Plan. It is not even legally binding 



on the parties right now. 



2. I>espite what the Forest Service says, they are not protecting the Sequoias 

 now. In about 1990 a biologi.st from Florida, I -auric McDonald came out to survey 

 Sequoia rove boundaries. She found many healthy Sequoias outside of Forest Service 

 Grove boundaries, including one giant more than 1/2 mile from the nearest Grove. 



In its last issue, the local Valley Voice (a twice monthly publication), reported the 

 finding, or "re" finding, of an ancient Sequoia in the Forest that rivals the General 

 Sherman in size. These Sequoias were not on any F.S. map. 



3. The testimony you have received against the bill because it "locked up" 

 the forest, are simply untrue. .Any implication in the bill that any landholder or lease- 

 holder, would lose their existing property right or use, that hunters would be dramatically 



ettected. 



On the western border of Sequoia Park, at the dividing line between the Park and Sequoia 

 Forest you can fine a definitive example of the two agency's management pracrices. From the 

 west, the fire burned up the mountain out of control. As one looks west today from the summit, 

 one can see the Red spires are now burned torches that burned like roman candles. BUT, w^ere 

 the fire entered the national park, it died, and no major flare-ups caught any of the giants in the 

 park- Controlled lire is clearly the method of choice for management within Sequoia Groves. 

 All of the Forest Service arguments about needing future commercial timber harvest to save the 

 Sequoia Groves are totally specious. Conunercial mechanized harvest should not be a fuluie 

 opticML 



I would be happy to clarify or respond to any of your sub-comittee's questions or 

 concerns. 



Thank You 



J. Neil Fenibaueh 



