SNF announces Nelder Grove closure
And an update on related litigation
Volume 3, Number 48 - Monday, Feb. 10, 2025
Published every Monday and Thursday
Perspective
NELDER GROVE is a giant sequoia grove on the Bass Lake Ranger District of Sierra National Forest that I’ve written about many times, most recently HERE on Jan. 16 when I reported that SNF had filed a new document in litigation pending since July 2023.
Work by the Forest Service was challenged in court by Earth Island Institute and Sequoia ForestKeeper, and the document filed by the government was the latest Nelder Grove Fuels Reduction Project Decision Memo, signed by District Ranger Dean Gould on Dec. 30, 2024.
Since then, the plaintiffs have filed additional documents, and it appears (although I could not confirm) that a hearing on the plaintiff’s “motion to temporarily stay proceedings or for alternative relief” has been set for 9 a.m. on March 6, in US District Court, Eastern District of California, 2500 Tulare St., Fresno (Courtroom 4, 7th floor).
According to the plaintiff’s motion, “The practical effect of the requested temporary stay would be to postpone the Court’s consideration of the parties now fully-briefed cross-motions for summary judgment.”
In a 15-page memorandum filed by the plaintiffs on Jan. 30, the environmental organizations challenged the government’s filing of District Ranger Gould’s Dec. 30 ROD. Here it is:
The plaintiff’s filing states that in that decision memo, Gould said that SNF had “essentially completed about half of the fuels reduction activities at issue in this case” and did not intend to implement the remaining fuels reduction activities in the foreseeable future.
“Thus, the requested temporary stay would have no impact on any of the on-the-ground actions that are at issue in this case because no such actions are currently occurring and none will occur in the immediately foreseeable future,” the document filed by Rachel M. Fazio of the Earth Island Institute’s John Muir Project stated.
Fazio also noted that the Forest Service “has now, for the first time in its new Decision Memo, identified as the categorical exclusion it is relying upon to comply with NEPA for the Nelder Grove portion of its Emergency Response.”
My best understanding of all of the documents filed in this case (1:23-cv-01045) is that much of the argument is about whether the emergency response (see below) was legal and, specifically, whether it complied with the National Environmental Policy Act. Notably, the environmental organizations did not ask for an injunction, and that work has continued, as weather and other conditions allowed.
In fact, SNF has announced plans for more work in Nelder Grove to begin this month. Here’s the report from SNF, as published on Facebook:
Forest Order No. 05-15-51-25-01 addresses the closure of the Nelder Grove Historic Area to ensure public safety due to post-fire hazards, and ongoing mechanical and helicopter operations. The closure is effective from Feb. 6 through July 31, but may be lifted sooner pending conditions.
Prolonged drought and bark beetle infestation caused widespread tree die-off in the Sierra Nevada Range, since 2016. The Nelder Grove Historic Area suffered further damage resulting from the 2017 Railroad Fire, severely affecting the giant sequoia trees and damaging recreational sites, including roads, and trails.
SNF personnel continue to work to preserve the remaining giant sequoias, along with restoration projects to ensure visitor safety. Forest Service leadership has initiated an emergency response to address these issues.
The “emergency response,” as previously reported, was approved by Forest Service Chief Randy Moore on July 22, 2022, to expedite the implementation of approximately 13,377 acres of fuels reduction treatments in 12 giant sequoia groves to reduce the wildfire risk (read more HERE).
Firefighter hiring concerns
Over the past few days, multiple news sources have reported concerns that President Donald Trump’s hiring freeze has stalled federal firefighter hiring. Here are some reports:
Firefighter Hiring Stalls at Federal Agencies After Trump’s Freeze; Job offers have been rescinded and start dates pushed back just as firefighting staffing for the summer wildfire season was beginning, a union said. — The New York Times (gift link HERE)
Trump’s federal hiring freeze halts onboarding of federal firefighting crews ahead of wildfire season — CNN, HERE.
Sen. Adam Schiff calls for federal firefighters to be exempt from hiring freeze — NBC HERE
Wildfire season at risk as federal hiring freeze halts firefighter recruitment — Fire and Safety Journal Americas, HERE
SQF SOPA access restored
I reported on Feb. 3 that I couldn’t access the latest SOPA reports for several national forests, including Sequoia National Forest. The SOPA is “Schedule of Proposed Action,” a report that provides the status of projects as they make their way through environmental review. Amy Masi,
Region 5 South Ops, Fire Public Affairs Specialist, let me know on Friday that “Some sites have been in and out recently, but they appear to be temporary issues,” and I was able to access SQF’s SOPA on Friday. This morning, the link to the latest SOPA for Sierra National Forest showed no data available.
A proposal in Oregon
I’ve mentioned before that I spent six years living on the Oregon coast, where I became familiar with forest issues on the Rogue River Siskiyou National Forest. I lived in Brookings, just north of the California-Oregon border, which is in Curry County, during the Chetco Bar Fire.
According to a report HERE, on Jefferson Public Radio, Curry County is considering using a state of emergency to take over management of federal forest land.
According to the proclamation by Curry County Commissioners (similar to Board of Supervisors in California):
Multiple-use management, timber sales, mineral utilization and livestock grazing have been curtailed to the point of causing greatly diminished health on our forests and have created catastrophic health, safety, welfare and economic effects to Curry County.
According to the article, a commissioner said the “emergency declaration is modeled after a resolution used in Apache County, Arizona to manage federal lands there. That Arizona resolution was championed by Doyel Shamley with Veritas Research Consulting who visited Curry County recently to discuss land management and the Constitution with commissioners.”
The draft resolution hasn’t passed yet, but a public workshop on the proposal is set for Wednesday. You can view the agenda HERE.
Wildfire, water & weather update
CalFire released the graphic below showing astounding stats for January:
From the National Weather Service, Hanford, this morning: A potentially strong winter storm is expected to impact central California between Wednesday and Friday. This is anticipated to be a cold storm with low snow levels and has the potential to impact travel in the Sierra foothills and along the major Kern County passes. The map above shows the probability of an inch or more of liquid precipitation between 4 a.m. Wednesday and 4 a.m. Friday.
I looked at some of the more detailed forecasts for Yosemite and Sequoia, and they are likely to get snow. That’s good news, because the California Drought Map (HERE) shows the Sierra Nevada from Mariposa County south in “moderate drought.”
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