Lawsuit Opposes Logging Plans For Giant Sequoia National Monument

Environmental groups have filed a federal lawsuit seeking to stop planned logging projects following fires at Giant Sequoia National Monument.

The lawsuit opposing the commercial logging projects was brought in the Northern District of California by the Sierra Club, John Muir Project of Earth Island Institute and Sequoia ForestKeeper. The projects proposed by the U.S. Forest Service would be on 13,000 acres that burned in the 2020 Castle Fire and the 2021 Windy Fire, which killed many giant sequoia trees, according to a prepared statement from the Sierra Club dated Feb. 22.

The projects could see tens of thousands of trees fall, according to Courthouse News Service, which reported the forest service said it would leave most downed trees away from the giant sequoias that are larger and that hand tools would be used.

A forest service spokesperson did not immediately respond Thursday to a request for comment from Patch.

"Giant sequoias are some of the most iconic trees in the United States, and they should be preserved for generations to come,” Alex Craven, Sierra Club forest campaign manager, said in a prepared statement. “Simply put, these projects as proposed won’t help us achieve that. Moreover, they threaten the vulnerable and endangered species who call these landscapes home.”

Heavy machinery would damage what is both a protected landscape and a habitat for endangered and threatened species such as the Pacific fisher, California spotted owl and a wolf pack, according to the Sierra Club. The projects would also allow timber companies to profit off logging in an area where such activity is intended to be prohibited, the organization said.

The giant sequoia is the world’s largest tree and only grows naturally in a 60-mile band in the western Sierra Nevada mountain range, according to the U.S. Forest Service. Giant sequoias can grow taller than 300 feet and be more than 20 feet wide.

The groups behind the lawsuit are arguing that the service broke the National Environmental Policy and National Forest Management acts and that new assessments should be done for the projects, according to Courthouse News Service.