258 



I have lived and worked in the Sierra and the Roddes, in Hawaii and Alaska, in 

 California and New Zealand. I have been fcvtunate enou^ to have had the (^portunity to 

 see envirtmmental splendor in most parts of die woiid. So it is with a measure of 

 experience, and no small degree of humility, that I ofier this assessment: No natural 

 wonder surpasses in sheer majesty and grandeur that of the ancient giant sequoias of the 

 Sierra Nevada. They are, as John Muir so apUy phrased it. "nature's forest masterpiece." 

 ! For that matter, you could delete the word "forest" 



I will resist the temptaticm to recite here the lore of antiquity and size that gives 

 these trees their power. This discussion lacks essential context, however, if there is no 

 allusion to the fact that in all the world there are but 75 ancient giant sequoia groves, all 

 on the west slope of the Sierra, and over half of then reside within the boundaries of 

 Sequoia National Forest 



It is unthinkable to iix>st anyone who has seen ancient sequoias, and especially to 

 anyone who has seen them after dieir surroundings have been mechanically reduced to 

 stumps and sawtimber, that the 38 groves within Sequoia National Forest don't enjoy the 

 same protections accorded giant sequoias in our national parks. The Giant Sequoia 

 Preservation Act attempts to redress this oversight by creating the first national fcnest 

 preserve for study and restoration of the sequoia ecosystem. 



The groves in Sequoia Nati(»ial Forest are in no way inferior to those in protected 

 jurisdicticms. They are just victims of political boundaries and a governmental agency, 

 the U.S. Fbrest Service, whose own supervisors consider it "an organization out of 

 control." 



