What’s At Stake in the Sequoia National Forest Plan Revisions

The Forest Service is currently seeking public comment on three draft forest plans encompassing more than four million acres of public land in the eastern and southern Sierra Nevada. This first alert focuses on the Sequoia National Forest. To view our previous alert about the Inyo National Forest, click here.

The Sequoia National Forest encompasses the iconic landscape of the southern Sierra Nevada. This highly scenic and mostly wild region attracts visitors from all over world. The draft plan addresses many different land and resource management issues, including the identification of and potential agency recommendations to protect additional wilderness and wild & scenic rivers. Protection of these wild places not only ensures that present and future generations may enjoy them, but they also provide refuge for fish, wildlife, and plants; preserve important sources of clean water and air; and help boost the local tourism-based economy.

Unfortunately, the Forest Service’s “preferred” Alternative B for the Sequoia Forest recommends no new wilderness for protection. Even worse, the preferred alternative proposes to double the amount of logging on the Sequoia Forest. But the more conservation-oriented Alternative C recommends more than 206,904 acres of wilderness, while proposing a more modest level of logging.

Some of the outstanding wild places that would be protected under Alternative C on the Sequoia Forest include:

• Domeland Wilderness Additions – Alt. C proposes to add 37,415 acres to the existing Domeland Wilderness, including portions of the upper Trout and Salmon Creek drainages and the beautiful Siretta Trail and the unique Twisselmann Botanical Area.

• Golden Trout Additions – Alt. C proposes to add 32,920 acres to the existing Golden Trout Wilderness, but roadless lands encompassing Rattlesnake and Durwood Creeks (key tributaries to the North Fork Kern Wild & Scenic River) are not proposed for protection under Alt. C.

• Other Wilderness Additions – Alt. C recommends modest additions to the existing Monarch and Jennie Lakes Wilderness.

• New “Stand Alone” Areas – Alt. C recommends protection for several new “stand alone” Wilderness areas, including the Stormy Canyon and Cannell Peak areas encompassing much of the lower North Fork Kern watershed, and Slate Mountain and Long Canyon in the Giant Sequoia National Monument portion of the Forest.

• The plan identifies about 77.6 miles of rivers and streams previously determined eligible for Wild & Scenic River protection. This includes segments of the Kings, lower Kern, Little Kern, North Fork and North Fork Middle Fork Tule Rivers. But no new eligible streams were identified, including Rattlesnake, Durwood, Trout, Salmon, Brushy, and Dry Meadow Creeks – all important tributaries to the North Fork and South Fork Kern Wild & Scenic Rivers.

Please send an email to the Forest Service TODAY urging the agency to adopt an improved Alternative C for the Sequoia National Forest that protects significant amounts of wilderness and all streams identified as eligible for wild & scenic river protection.

The deadline for public comments is August 25, 2016. For more information, please contact Steve Evans, CalWild’s Wild Rivers Consultant at sevans@calwild.org or call (916) 708-3155. To review the Forest Service’s draft Forest Plans and EIS, as well as for the full schedule of upcoming public meetings, visit for Forest Service’s website.