Four environmentalist groups are suing the National Park Service (NPS) over its plans to replant redwood trees in Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks. The areas of replanting include those hit by wildfires in 2020 and 2021.
“Natural regeneration may not be sufficient”
The Park Service announced the seedling-planting project earlier this year. It listed the reason for it was that the agency was “concerned that natural regeneration may not be sufficient to support self-sustaining groves into the future, particularly as the fires killed an unprecedented number of reproductive sequoia trees in the groves themselves.”
Sequoia and Kings Canyon plan “explicitly prohibited”
However, four environmental groups have decidedly opposed the plan. On November 17, the groups, including the John Muir Project, Wilderness Watch, Sequoia Forest Keeper, and the Tule River Conservancy, say the NPS is out of line. The suit claims the plan violates the law. How? The replant includes some work in designated wilderness areas, where human involvement in the ecosystem is explicitly prohibited.
Officials with the John Muir Project disagree with the NPS’ premise that natural regeneration of the giant trees won’t be enough. A spokesman for the group told news outlet CNN that sequoias are among the species of trees that actually “depend on high-intensity fire in order to reproduce effectively.” Chad Hansen, the project’s spokesman said, “Nature doesn’t need our help. We are not supposed to be getting involved with tending it like a garden.”
Earlier suit and current one criticized for circumventing review, public engagement
The three other groups sued the Park Service last September over a different NPS project. That one, a “Fuels Reduction Project,” would direct cutting a thousand acres of timber. An additional 20,000 acres would be subject to “manager-ignited fires and associated activity,” according to the complaint.
The lawsuit filing says both projects were approved after having circumvented “required processes of environmental review and public engagement.” This, it says, was done by declaring them as “emergency” projects that would not have to meet those requirements.
NPS officials declined to comment, as is the agency’s policy regarding litigation. They did confirm replanting started in October in two sequoia groves. However, the work was begun before the anti-replant suit was filed.
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How confused can we humans get?
Turns out planting trees is just as harmful as torching trees? How dare we replace what we ruin? Don’t repair it, we need it to stay destroyed in order to send a message perhaps?
Yes KellyR, I’m sooo very confused now.
I guess these same organizations don’t like Arbor Day or Johnny Appleseed? And the people we hire to look out after our natural resources are really anti natural resources? Let’s disagree so we can ask for more money? I’m soo tired.
I’m so confused by these arguments I don’t know which side of this predicament I should be standing on….
Well, I guess you have joined our club, Bill. Cut down the Rain Forest, now we have to replant. Burn down the Northwest, don’t dare you replant. ?????
Thank you, Russ and Tina! This is a lot of science and when it comes to science I am defenseless. 😉
Before we had big, BIG government (way back!), didn’t we just let nature fix stuff after fires? Somehow that seemed to work just fine. Now, the government wants to get involved in everything, and I’m pretty sure most of us have an opinion of what happens when it does.
Normally I support environmental causes, but this just sounds like contradictory stupidity to me. Sounds like they’re going against what they usually would support. It makes no dang sense. I’m all for giving the Sequoia & Redwoods a helping hand to regenerate. The past few fires were not normal ‘healthy’ regenerative fires, they were destructive firestorms that ate up many mature redwoods/sequoia who normally survive regular fires, but not these. 🙁