Congressman Issa Cosponsors Save Our Sequoias Act to Preserve California Treasures
Washington, DC - Congressman Darrell Issa (CA-48) is an original cosponsor of Speaker Kevin McCarthy's Save Our Sequoias (SOS) Act. This legislation would improve forest management practices at the U.S. Forest Service and the National Park Service to expedite fire protection measures in California lands where Giant Sequoias grow.
Giant Sequoias are the largest trees on Earth and solely found in roughly 70 groves across 37,000 acres in California. Action is needed to further protect these iconic trees against the threat of wildfire.
The 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: save_our_sequoias_act_-_one_pager.pdf (house.gov).