Kern County Times

 WASHINGTON – On April 28, Congressman David G. Valadao (CA-22) joined Speaker Kevin McCarthy (CA-20), Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee Bruce Westerman (AR-04), Reps. Jimmy Panetta (CA-19), Jim Costa (CA-21), Scott Peters (CA-50), John Garamendi (CA-8), and Tom McClintock (CA-5) to re-introduce the Save Our Sequoias (SOS) Act. The legislation provides a comprehensive response to address the imminent threats facing Giant Sequoias in California.

“California’s Giant Sequoias are a national treasure, and the Central Valley is lucky to have these iconic groves right in our own backyard. Sadly, decades of poor forest management have caused unprecedented destruction to these trees, and we’re now at risk of losing these giants for good,” said Congressman Valadao.  “I’m proud to join my colleagues to introduce the Save Our Sequoias Act, bipartisan legislation that will ensure we save our Sequoias for generations to come.”  

Background: 

Catastrophic wildfires have wiped out nearly one-fifth of the world’s Giant Sequoias. The emergency facing Giant Sequoias is unprecedented, and despite the looming threat to the remaining Giant Sequoias, federal land managers have not been able to increase the pace and scale of treatments necessary to restore Giant Sequoia resiliency to wildfires, insects, and drought. Without urgent action, we are at risk of losing the iconic Giant Sequoia in the next several years.

The bipartisan SOS Act would:

·         Enhance coordination between federal, state, tribal and local land managers through shared stewardship agreements and the codification of the Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition, a partnership between the current Giant Sequoia managers.

·         Create a Giant Sequoia Health and Resiliency Assessment to prioritize wildfire risk reduction treatments in the highest-risk groves and track the progress of scientific forest management activities.

·         Declare an emergency to streamline and expedite environmental reviews and consultations while maintaining robust scientific analysis.

·         Provide new authority to the National Park Foundation and National Forest Foundation to accept private donations to facilitate Giant Sequoia restoration and resiliency.

·         Establish a comprehensive reforestation strategy to regenerate Giant Sequoias in areas destroyed by recent catastrophic wildfires. 

Read a one-pager on the Save Our Sequoias Act here. 

Watch the member's live announcement here. 

Original source can be found here.