An update from Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition
'We can accomplish more together than individually'
Volume 2, Number 32 - Friday, March 8, 2024
Publishing intermittently through March
Perspective
AFTER LAST WEEK’S newsletter was published, I heard from René Voss, an attorney with an extensive history of litigation related to forest and giant sequoia management issues. He is representing the three environmental organizations that filed suit against the Forest Service’s approval of the Castle and Windy fire restoration plans.
In that filing, the organizations claim that the agency plans to log the areas. In a newsletter last week (read it HERE), I wrote that I don’t believe the planned activity is logging.
I wrote: “By any definition I have found, the Forest Service doesn’t intend to log in Giant Sequoia National Monument as part of the Castle and Wind fire restoration projects.”
Voss wanted to know if that was my opinion, and this is a good time to let readers know that in this newsletter when I write something under the heading “Perspective,” I may be including my opinion. Sometimes I write formal news articles with headlines and in those — as in my other journalism — I write about what other people say.
So, yes, it was (and is) my opinion that what is planned isn’t logging. Voss shared a definition of logging I had already read — something about cutting trees down and hauling them away. I will concede that there are published definitions of logging that appear to describe the planned work literally — and Voss conceded that he wasn’t claiming that the planned work is the same as commercial logging.
I continue to object to using the word “logging” in this context because it triggers anger but doesn’t help people understand the state of Sierra Nevada forests, where giant sequoia groves are located.
If you don’t believe me, check out the Patch article I’ve linked in the news section below. The headline calls the proposed work “logging” and, in the story, even calls it a commercial logging project.
It might help if the Forest Service was willing to respond to reporters' questions about lawsuits instead of sticking with the “no comment” policy, which also doesn’t help the public.
And, of course, I understand that the organizations that filed the lawsuit — the Sierra Club, Earth Island Institute and Sequoia ForestKeeper — disagree with the Forest Service on many issues.
It will be interesting to see what the court does with this latest lawsuit.
Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition report
Yesterday, the Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition released its progress report for 2023. You can download the report below, and I will devote future editions to each section. In the meantime, here’s the news release issued by the organization:
Officials from the State of California, USDA Forest Service, National Park Service, Tule River Indian Tribe of California, Save the Redwoods League, and other members of the Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition (GSLC) today announced significant progress in their work to protect the world’s largest tree species from severe wildfires. In its 2023 Progress Report for Saving the Sequoias, GSLC confirms that coalition partners have more than doubled the acres across the giant sequoia range where treatments are underway.
In its second year of large-scale collaboration, the coalition has exceeded its goals with ecosystem-wide achievements:
• Treated nearly 9,900 acres in 28 giant sequoia groves—more than twice the acreage treated in 2022. This brings the total giant sequoia grove acres treated since the extreme 2020-21 wildfires to 14,143 out of 26,000;
• Planted more than 294,000 native tree seedlings in severely burned areas, bringing the total to more than 542,000 in two years;
• Initiated and hosted research studies by academic, government, and nonprofit entities;
• Revived cultural practices and expanded co-stewardship agreements with tribes and nonprofits
“The Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition made significant progress in 2023 to increase wildfire resilience in our forests and communities,” said coalition Co-Chair Clay Jordan, who is also superintendent of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. “We are realizing the founding goal of the coalition: accelerating the pace and scale of giant sequoia restoration by close coordination and collaboration. Forest treatment is not a one-time event, but a long-term commitment to actively stewarding and restoring these complex natural systems. Everyone benefits from the efficiencies and efficacy of the coalition’s combined efforts—the forest most of all.”
GSLC’s work in 2023 was managed by 941 people at a cost of $32.9 million. GSLC conducted initial restoration treatments on 9,886 of 26,000 acres in 28 of approximately 80 groves, which represents more than twice the amount of giant sequoia grove acres treated than the previous year. This restoration work increases the wildfire resilience of the groves by reducing the amount of hazardous and combustible plant materials (fuels) through manual and mechanical fuels reduction, prescribed fires and cultural burning practices.
GSLC also worked to improve forest health through reforestation and planted more than 290,000 locally sourced native trees, including 119,000 giant sequoias. Combined with the previous year, the coalition has now planted more than 542,000 trees in and around the sequoia groves. These reforestation projects focus on areas that experienced uncharacteristically high wildfire intensity where seed trees have died, burned seeds were not able to develop, and minimal regeneration has occurred naturally.
“Our work to ensure a wildfire-resilient future for giant sequoias lives at the scientific intersection of forest ecology, wildfire and climate studies,” said Dr. Joanna Nelson, Ph.D., director of science and conservation planning for Save the Redwoods League and co-lead of the GSLC science committee. “We are simultaneously applying the latest evidence-based techniques and advancing the field’s understanding through research. As we coordinate research and adaptive management across the coalition, we boost our ability to steward giant sequoias. This is a long-term challenge with long-term solutions, and we are starting the long-term with timely action, now.”
“While we benefited from a relatively quiet fire season in 2023, what happens this year is impossible to predict, so we must prepare for the worst,” continued Nelson. “We urge elected officials and policymakers to continue to provide funding and personnel, enact policy changes and help us reduce fuels now so we can continue to address the problem at scale.”
Giant sequoias are the largest trees in the world, and severe wildfires have killed up to 20% of the mature trees since 2015.
The two federal agencies that own and manage the majority of giant sequoia lands‒USDA Forest Service and National Park Service‒implemented emergency actions in 2023 to accelerate the pace and scale of work.
The members of the Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition include:
• National Park Service, represented by Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks and Yosemite National Park
• USDA Forest Service, represented by the Sequoia National Forest, Giant Sequoia National Monument, Sierra National Forest, and Tahoe National Forest
• Tule River Indian Tribe of California, stewards of all or parts of five sequoia groves
• Bureau of Land Management, stewards of Case Mountain Extensive Recreation Management Area
• California State Parks, stewards of Calaveras Big Trees State Park
• California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), stewards of Mountain Home Demonstration State Forest
• University of California, Berkeley, stewards of Whitaker’s Forest
• Tulare County, stewards of Balch Park
GSLC Affiliate Members are American Forests, Ancient Forest Society, Giant Sequoia National Monument Association, Save the Redwoods League, Sequoia Parks Conservancy, Southern Sierra Conservancy, Stanislaus National Forest, US Geological Survey—Western Ecological Research Center and Yosemite Conservancy.
Download the report here:
Wildfire, water & weather update
There’s nothing like a blizzard to improve the snowpack! This morning’s report from the California Department of Water Resources shows that although we’re still in early March, in Northern California, the snowpack is 115% of normal for this date and 108% of the April 1 average. Moving to the Central Sierra, the snowpack is 100% of normal for this date and 94% of the April 1 average. Unfortunately, the report is not as good for the Southern Sierra where most giant sequoias grow. The average snow water equivalent of 19.4 inches is 92% of normal for this date and 87% of the April 1 average. A storm next Tuesday may bring more snow to some mountain areas.
The best Sierra Nevada weather forecasts are at NWS Hanford, HERE, and NWS Sacramento, HERE.
You can read the March 1 seasonal outlook report from the National Interagency Fire Center HERE. Of interest from the Southern California report, “the potential for significant fires will be near normal across the entire region through April. The lower elevations will likely see a below normal threat for significant fire in May, then most of the region will likely see a below normal threat for significant fire in June.”
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Giant sequoias in the news
• Yesterday, the Sierra Nevada Conservancy Governing Board awarded a little over $27.5 million to 16 projects to help plan and implement forest-health efforts that promote recovery and resilience throughout the Sierra Cascade. You can read more HERE in a news release issued before the board meeting. Noteworthy awards included: Iconic giant sequoias in two well-known groves, Alder Creek and Freeman Creek, will get extra protection as Save the Redwoods League and partners will utilize $2.25 million to reduce hazardous fuel loading on 900 acres in Tulare County. The Tule River Indian Tribe received roughly $1.7 million to reduce the risk of damaging wildfires through fuel-reduction treatments on tribal land.
• An article in Outdoor Life magazine published online a few days ago has an intriguing headline: “Here’s Why No One Can Agree on How to Manage America’s Old Growth Forests.” You can read it HERE. Here’s a pertinent excerpt:
Logging old growth on USFS lands is already pretty restricted under the USFS’ multiple-use framework, which essentially requires that any tree removal on USFS lands is done for ecological reasons first and foremost.
• The website Counterpunch offers THIS ARTICLE about protecting wilderness in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park. Nothing new here, but interesting to me is that this website, based in Petrolia, California, claims to “tell the facts and name the names” and “new articles, from an independent left-leaning perspective, are posted every weekday.” Fun fact — Petrolia is in California’s Humboldt County, home to beautiful coastal redwoods. You might be surprised to learn that California’s first drilled oil wells that produced crude to be refined and sold commercially were located on the North Fork of the Mattole River approximately three miles east of Petrolia back in 1865.
• Several news articles have been published about a lawsuit by three environmental organizations challenging the adequacy of environmental review of Sequoia National Forest’s plans for areas burned by the Castle and Windy Fires. I wrote about this in this newsletter last week and also wrote three of the stories linked below:
— Lawsuit Opposes Logging Plans For Giant Sequoia National Monument from Patch
— Environmental groups sue to block Sequoia National Forest wildfire cleanup from the San Joaquin Valley Sun
— Sierra Club, environmental groups file suit against Sequoia National Forest wildfire restoration plans from The Bakersfield Californian (my article)
— Sierra Club, others sue over Castle, Windy restorations and Different views on forest restoration plan from The Porterville Recorder (my articles)
Dear readers …
Your patience is very much appreciated, dear readers. My life has been off-keel since the sudden and unexpected death of my husband in early December. I am working to right my course and hope to be back to regular twice-a-week posts by the end of the month. This edition was planned for Thursday, but life got in the way. (And in the version of this newsletter I sent by email I said it was Friday, March 9. But it’s really March 8, so I’ve corrected that above. Sorry!
Thanks for reading!
Thank you for another excellent issue, Claudia! I always look forward to reding them.