We hope to uphold both for the use and enjoyment of future generations. Judging from past comments made by President Bush and other officials of the new administration, the federal government will do little to defend the new national monuments. We can t count on the new administration to mount a vigorous defense. The 327,769-acre national monument, in the southern Sierra Nevada, protects 34 of only 70 remaining groves of giant sequoia. These groves are the last remnants of a once widespread species that has been a part of the North American landscape for millions of years.
Giant sequoia are the largest trees on earth, and are among the oldest.
Individual trees can live more than 3,200 years, and preserve in their annual growth rings a long record of climate change, drought, and fire regimes. Because the big trees are a dependent part of the larger forest ecosystem, the monument also includes the wide areas within each grove s watershed, including an elevation range of 7,000 feet, habitat for sensitive species like the Pacific fisher and great gray owl, and multiple Native American archaeological sites. In achieving this protection, the monument designation eliminates only the most damaging former uses of the area. Though timber harvest will no longer take place and OHV use will be reduced within its boundaries, the monument provides for recreation of all kinds, maintains private property rights and existing special use permits, and will allow for fuels reduction under a new management plan. For all their bulk and longevity, giant sequoia are ecologically fragile.