Focus on Arts and Ecology

Jon, California’s Sierra and Sequoia national forests, in the iconic mountains of the Southern Sierra, are essential homes for imperiled species like California spotted owls, fishers, Yosemite toads and black-backed woodpeckers. But newly released management plans for these forests fail to protect wildlife, wilderness and the old-growth forests that help fight climate change. Instead they favor logging.  Tell the U.S. Forest Service to go back to the drawing board with these critical plans. More logging is the last thing the Sierra and Sequoia national forests need. Most of their mature trees have already been cut down, and the few large trees that remain must be cherished. They shelter wildlife and help combat the climate crisis by storing immense amounts of carbon.  The Service’s plans must also be revised to provide more protections from logging for post-fire habitat, known as “complex early seral forest.” After a fire dead trees provide essential food and habitat for woodpeckers, while the wildflowers and shrubs that sprout up attract bees, birds, deer and bears. Public lands should be treasured and preserved, not treated as handouts to the timber industry. Tell the Forest Service to fix these plans and protect our forests and wildlife.

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Photo of Pacific fisher courtesy of USFWS.   Center for Biological Diversity P.O. Box 710 Tucson, AZ 85702 United States