Sequoia National Forest
Remarks
          As Prepared for Delivery
                                     by
             Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman
                    Sequoia National Forest
                         April 15, 2000
                                                               
                                                               

     "Thank you very much, Art Gaffery, for that introduction and for your
extraordinary work as the supervisor of this spectacular forest.  

     "It is a unique pleasure to welcome President Clinton to one of the most
beautiful places in the world...and to salute him and the Vice President for
their tireless commitment to protecting America's natural treasures and
special places.  They truly understand what trees mean to our country, not
just as aesthetic marvels but as functional parts of our infrastructure,
providing wildlife habitat, capturing greenhouse gases, emitting clean oxygen,
cooling the air and helping keep our water supply clean.

     "I want to single out two people whose leadership has made an enormous
difference in the protection of American forests   Jim Lyons, Under Secretary
of Agriculture for Natural Resources and the Environment, Mike Dombeck, Chief
of the USDA Forest Service, and Al Ferlo, Counsel to the Chief.  I rely on
their expertise every day, and they deserve much of the credit for this
Administration's extraordinary environmental record.

     "No photograph or second-hand account can convey the magnificence of the
Giant Sequoias.  They must be seen to be believed.  They are the largest
living things on the face of the earth, some as large as 30 feet in diameter
and climbing as high as the Statue of Liberty's torch.  John Muir called them
the "noblest of God's trees"..."monarchs of the woods"...an "unrivaled display
of combined grandeur and beauty."

     "Muir also understood that, without proper protection, these trees could
eventually be lost.  Only a handful of groves remain in the world, and all of
them are right here on the western slope of the Sierra Nevadas. 

     "When President Clinton asked me to examine the possibility of
establishing a national monument to protect the Sequoias, I immediately
gathered a team of career federal employees, who consulted extensively with
experts inside and outside government, local elected officials, tribal leaders
and the people who live in this area.
                                
     "Last week, I recommended to the President that a monument is the best
way to ensure the Sequoias' long-term survival.  Monument status would provide
permanent protection not just to the trees themselves but to the entire
ecosystem on which they depend.  A new monument would also elevate the
importance of these trees in the minds of the American people.

     "My recommendation was based on the belief that the Sequoias can be
protected while ensuring continued public access and use of the area.  Current
grazing and special use permits, like those for camps for example, would
remain valid, and the normal permit process would apply to their renewal.  All
pre-existing rights, including the access rights of private in-holders, would
be preserved. 

     "There may be some impact on the timber industry, but my recommendation
calls for a two and a half year period during which the Forest Service would
provide a transitional timber supply, utilizing commercial sales currently
under contract and sales approved last year.  We are also committed to using
the full range of USDA rural economic assistance and development programs to
help create new forest-related jobs.  Ultimately, I believe a monument would
be a net economic gain for this region, especially when you consider that
recreation and tourism support many more local jobs than does timber.

     :We live in a culture where we are constantly surrounded by that which
is new   new tools, new equipment, new technologies.  And without a doubt,
innovation is what's powering the growth of our economy, creating more
prosperity and better quality of life than ever before.  

     "But even as we embrace the state-of-the-art, we must celebrate the
ageless.  As we look toward a new millennium, let's remember that some of
these trees are as much as 3 millennia old.  They transcend the nation.  They
stood for hundreds and hundreds of years even before Columbus arrived and the
Western world was settled.  They pre-date the Middle Ages, Christianity and
the Roman Empire.  They've endured every war, survived every era, outlasted
every trend or cycle in our history.

     "For the last several months, I could look out my office window and see
the exhaustive work and care being taken to renovate the Washington Monument,
so that visitors from around the world could continue to enjoy it.  Let's take
the same care with these trees that we do with historic man-made structures
like the Washington Monument.  Let's permanently protect the Giant Sequoias
now.  Let's leave them for every subsequent generation to savor and admire.

     "Now I want to introduce a very special guest, Marta Brown, wife of the
late Representative George Brown, whom I had the pleasure of working with in
Congress for several years.  Marta worked side-by-side with him, not just as
his spouse and partner but as his press secretary as well.  For Congressman
Brown, the protection of the Giant Sequoias was more than an issue; it was a
kind of crusade.  When he passed away last year, this forest, the San
Bernardino Valley and the whole nation lost a great leader.  But Marta Brown
has continued to carry on this crusade, and we are honored to have her here
today.  Marta Brown."
 
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