It’s nice to see when something you care about is protected. In a world where we destroy and waste to extremes little victories are the most we can usually hope for. Today I’m happy to share this letter with you from Carl Pope of the Sierra Club about a huge victory. This is a victory that will preserve a beautiful place for generations.
Dear Scott,
I am delighted to share with you some very exciting news about a giant victory for Sierra Club and the Giant Sequoia National Monument.
Just a week ago we saw the end to the Sierra Club’s three year long battle with the timber industry, preventing them – once and for all – from logging in the Giant Sequoia National Monument.
The win came at the 11th hour, as the Sierra Club legal team prepared to appear in the Ninth Circuit court to argue the last case standing, a last-ditch appeal by the timber industry, regarding commercial logging in the Monument. But on the eve of the hearing, they abandoned and withdrew their appeal – putting the final nail in the coffin of this very drawn out case - and putting an end to the pillage of these iconic trees.
This was a major victory for the Sierra Club – and it would not have been possible without the support of our committed Members and Supporters. Thank you.
Beginning in 1901, when John Muir lobbied for the expansion of Sequoia National Park to encompass the entire range of the giant sequoia, the Sierra Club has advocated for the protection of giant sequoia ecosystems in their entirety. And after years of fighting to keep our towering Sequoia trees safe from the timber industry’s saws, we have finally won. Thanks to this hard-earned victory, our children and grandchildren will be able to stand in awe of these noble giants for generations to come.
Thank you again for your contribution to this critical victory – it never could have happened without your support.
Sincerely
Carl Pope
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Carl Pope claims that “after years of fighting to keep our towering Sequoia trees safe from the timber industry’s saws, we have finally won.” For Mr. Pope to say that “we have finally won” is far from the truth.
Just because the timber mill withdrew one lawsuit is not, as Pope falsely claims, “preventing them – once and for all – from logging in the Giant Sequoia National Monument” or “putting an end to the pillage of these iconic trees.”
Mr. Pope is obviously also incompetently unfamiliar with how the Monument is managed by the US Forest Service, or he would tell the public the truth: we have not won!
In addition to other harmful projects, the Forest Service’s “Schedule of Proposed Actions” for the Giant Sequoia National Monument lists so-called “community protection,” “hazard tree,” “thinning,” and “fuel reduction” logging projects in the Monument. Funding for these projects has been generously provided by Congress.
Congress is now considering funding the Forest Service with millions of dollars in the 2009 budget which could be used to log in the Giant Sequoia Groves, the Grove influence zones, and elsewhere in the Monument. The battle to protect the Giant Sequoia National Monument is not over; indeed, the battle to protect the Monument is just getting underway. And where is the Sierra Club in this battle in the halls of Congress – no where to be seen?
Ara
Ara Marderosian
Sequoia Task Force
Conservation Chair
Kern-Kaweah Chapter
Executive Committee
(760) 378-4574
And
Mr. Ara Marderosian,
Executive Director
Sequoia ForestKeeper
P.O. Box 2134,
Kernville, CA 93238
(760) 376-4434
http://www.sequoiaforestkeeper.org
ara@sequoiaforestkeeper.org