In May, 1998, the U.S. Forest Service is scheduled to offer for bid in Sequoia National Forest the first part of the massive White River Project-- a series of timber sales totaling more than 13 million board-feet. The sales would damage watersheds and cut trees in designated ancient forest protection zones.

Under the guise of fire control, the Forest Service in these sales plans to open for logging some of the last protected old-growth reserves in Sequoia National Forest, in the southern Sierra.

Although fire is recognized as the primary tool to encourage the restoration and regeneration of natural conditions in Sequoia National Park, the Forest Service continues to log areas in nearby Sequoia National Forest, claiming the logging will reduce fire risks. In fact, say many environmentalists, timber production is the real reason for creating the so-called firebreaks.

Black Mountain Grove in Sequoia National Forest. Photo by Martin Litton.

The White River sales would take place in "Areas of Late Successional Emphasis (ALSEs)," which are old-growth reserves with a protective matrix of buffer zones. ALSEs are valuable to recovering forest ecosystems because of their scarcity and structural complexity. Eleven percent of all ALSE's in the Sierra Nevada are located in Sequoia National Forest.

Logging in ALSEs contradicts the best available science in the findings of the Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project (SNEP), which call for all remaining old-growth areas to be preserved. SNEP is a congressionally mandated, peer-reviewed scientific study of ecosystems and management plans for the Sierra Nevada range. The proposed White River cuts also contradict Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck's call for his agency to "lead by using the best available scientific information based on principles of ecosystem management.."

The White River sales would build ridgetop firebreaks-- essentially long, narrow clearcuts on unstable, semi-arid land-- purportedly to reduce the risk of fire. This firebreak model is scientifically untested and the Forest Service has no provisions for maintaining these zones. Without maintenance, brush and small trees-- fuel for high-intensity fires-- could flourish in the absence of the shade of the canopy.

What you can do:

Contact Sen. Barbara Boxer and James Lyons, a senior official with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Tell them the White River timber sales must be canceled.

Hon. Barbara Boxer
Attn: Jodi Linker
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510

James R. Lyons
Under-Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment
Office of the Secretary, U.S.D.A.
Washington, DC 20250

Let them know:

• Commercial logging should be banned in all remaining ALSEs, including the White River Project in California's Sequoia National Forest.

• The proposed White River sales ignore the best available science concerning ecosystem management and the SNEP reports.

• The sales would create scientifically unproven firebreaks without funds for maintenance, which could increase catastrophic fire risks.

• These timber sales almost surely would operate at a deficit. Taxpayers must not subsidize the destruction of America's dwindling ancient forest ecosystems.