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Testimony of Chariene B. Little 



Sequoia Forest Alliance 



(619) J76-4129 



Concerning the Giant Sequoia Preservation Act 



H.R. 2153 



Before the House Agriculture Committee 



Subcommittee on Specialty Crops and Natural Resources 



March 2, 1994 



I am Charlene Little, of Kemville, California, a small town surrounded by the Sequoia 

 National Forest. I am one of the founders of the Sequoia Forest Alliance, an association of 

 citizens concerned with the health of our National Forests. I am a member of the Sierra Club 

 and the National Audubon Society and I have worked closely with these organizations in 

 attempting to improve forest management policy 



For the last ten years, I have been conducting exhaustive studies of the timber 

 management of the Sequoia Forest These studies have included careful monitoring of 

 reforestation and the effects of logging and roading on wildlife and fishery habitat We have 

 brought in experts to collect data and form evaluations. 



The results of these studies are alarming We found thousands of acres of tree plantations 

 that are devoid of the numbers of trees purported to be there by the U S.Forest Service. Many 

 of our streams are clogged with sediment and have lost their ability to support the spawning of 

 trout. The Forest Service has neglected to conduct many of the studies and activities required 

 by Federal Law to execute timber sales 



Our findings led to numerous timber sale appeals and eventually several lawsuits We 

 won injunctive relief on a number of individual timber sales, but this relief is only temporary and 

 affects but a minute portion of the forest What is needed is a permanent preserve for the lasting 

 protection of the giant sequoias and the surrounding forest. H.R. 2153 would provide that 

 protection. 



In spite of voluminous evidence demonstrating that the US Forest Service has been 

 negligent in its management of the giant sequoia groves and the mixed conifer forest, many 

 timber sales are still being planned in the fragile area designated for preservation in this bill An 

 example is the "Counter and Adler Timber Sales" which are found in the Sequoia National Forest 

 Project Planning Schedule, 1/1/94 - 3/31/94, with aprojection of fourteen million board feet The 

 Planning Schedule identifies the issues associated with these sales as follows: "Spotted Owl 

 Habitat Area, giant sequoias, furbearers." 



Let us not ignore the handwriting on the wall. My ten years of negotiations with the U.S. 

 Forest Service have been filled with broken promises It is time to find a better way to protect 

 this jewel of old growth forest That way is to enact the Giant Sequoia Preservation Act, H.R. 

 2153. 



