Today, Representative Vince Fong (CA-20) was joined by Congressional Western Caucus Chairman Doug LaMalfa (CA-01) and 26 additional bipartisan members in re-introducing the Save Our Sequoias (SOS) Act. This bill will enhance interagency coordination, accelerate forest restoration efforts, and provide important resources to land managers to guard ancient sequoia trees from further destruction. The SOS Act would reverse the damage caused by catastrophic wildfires and restore the resilience of Giant Sequoia groves – which provide critical ecological, scientific, and cultural benefits.
“California’s Giant Sequoias are a symbol of our state’s natural heritage,” said Representative Fong. “We cannot afford to stand by as continued forest mismanagement destroys our natural resources. It is essential we enact legislation that enforces proactive forest management, and harnesses the power of science, collaboration, and expedited action to protect the remaining Giant Sequoias, return resilience to our forests, and ensure these trees endure for generations.”
“Catastrophic wildfires are threatening California’s historic giant sequoias,” said Chairman LaMalfa. “These trees are the largest in the world but saving them will not require a herculean effort – just increasing the pace and scale of common-sense forest management policies. Representative Fong’s bipartisan solution saves our sequoia groves by expediting hazardous fuels removal and creating stewardship agreements that bring land managers from every level of government into a partnership.”
Also cosponsoring the Save Our Sequoias Act are Western Caucus Vice Chairs Cliff Bentz (OR-02), Dan Newhouse (WA-04), Jay Obernolte (CA-23) and Bruce Westerman (AR-04); Western Caucus Members Ken Calvert (CA-41), Russ Fulcher (ID-01), Darrell Issa (CA-48), Kevin Kiley (CA-03), Tom McClintock (CA-05), Blake Moore (UT-01) and David Valadao (CA-22); and Representatives Scott Peters (CA-50), Ami Bera (CA-06), Sanford Bishop (GA-02), Lou Correa (CA-46), Jim Costa (CA-21), John Garamendi (CA-08), Jared Golden (ME-02), Josh Harder (CA-09), Steven Horsford (NV-04), Young Kim (CA-40), Susie Lee (NV-03), Jimmy Panetta (CA-19), John Rutherford (FL-05), Juan Vargas (CA-52) and Daniel Webster (FL-11).
The SOS Act will provide the following key measures to address this crisis:
- Reforestation Strategy: Establish a comprehensive reforestation strategy to regenerate Giant Sequoias in groves destroyed by recent wildfires, helping to ensure the long-term survival of these majestic trees.
- Expedited Emergency Procedures: Declare an emergency to codify existing emergency procedures, streamline environmental reviews, and maintain robust scientific analysis to accelerate necessary forest treatments.
- Enhanced Coordination: Strengthen collaboration between federal, state, tribal, and local land managers through shared stewardship agreements and the creation of the Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition, a partnership between current Giant Sequoia managers.
- Health and Resiliency Assessment: Establish a Giant Sequoia Health and Resiliency Assessment to prioritize forest management projects, track progress, and ensure ongoing study of the trees' health and resiliency over time.
- Hazardous Fuels Reduction Funding: Provide funding and create a new grant program to support hazardous fuels reduction treatments in and around Giant Sequoia groves, mitigating the risk of wildfires.
At its current pace, it would take the U.S. Forest Service 52 years to treat just the 19 most at-risk Giant Sequoia groves. Speeding up science-based forest treatments will boost resilience, improve air and water quality, reduce carbon emissions, and protect vital habitats. Giant Sequoias, the world’s largest trees, are found in 70 groves across 37,000 acres in California, where nearly one-fifth have been destroyed since 2015. The time to protect these irreplaceable pieces of history for future generations is now.
Watch Rep. Fong deliver remarks on the SOS Act
here.
Read the full legislation
here.
