Update: Reprive in Sequoia National Monument
Stumps of recently thriving trees dot the Sierras, as the detritus of logging piles up in the Sequoia forest. This pageantry of destruction is brought to you by Sierra Forest Products of Terra Bella California (that a company like this is located in a town with such a name is only one among many sad ironies in this sordid story) and its chief sponsor, the US Department of Forestry. In a stunning, relatively overlooked area of the southern Sierras, just east of California Hot Springs and the south valley town of Porterville, the Forest Service is facilitating one of the most rotten deals in the recent, rotten history of logging on public lands. And these are not just any public lands but a National Monument established in 2000 to protect giant Sequoias, in large part by prohibiting timber cutting and restoring the lands to their primeval condition. The sale is called the Saddle Fuels Reduction Project, and as in so many recent cases timber extraction is occurring under the ruse of fire suppression. Forest activists have documented many cases of large trees being marked for removal in open areas of forest with smaller nearby trees left behind. For more info | Sierra Nevada Earth First | 9/2 - 9/6: Sierra Nevada Earth First! Sequoia Action Camp!