H.R. 2709
Save Our Sequoias Act
Sponsor: Vince Fong · 29 cosponsors
Follow this billOfficial summary
Written by the Congressional Research Service.
Save Our Sequoias Act
This bill provides for the conservation of giant sequoia trees (Sequoiadendron giganteum) in California.
Specifically, it provides statutory authority for the Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition and outlines the coalition's duties. The coalition must submit a Giant Sequoia Health and Resiliency Assessment and annually update it. The information from the assessment must be made available so the information can be integrated into certain other plans. The coalition must also create and maintain a website that contains the assessment, educational materials, searchable information about individual giant sequoia groves, and a searchable database to track the status and costs of reforestation and rehabilitation activities.
In addition, the bill declares an emergency on certain public lands and allows officials to carry out protection plans during the emergency to respond to the threat of wildfires, insects, and drought. The emergency expires after seven years.
The Department of the Interior must develop and implement a Giant Sequoia Reforestation and Rehabilitation Strategy.
Finally, the bill establishes a variety of programs and funds to support the conservation of giant sequoias.
Text of the bill
(a) National park service. Section 604 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591c) is amended—
(1) by amending subsection (a)(2) to read as follows:
(2) Director. The term Director means the Director of the Bureau of Land Management with respect to Bureau of Land Management lands and the Director of the National Park Service with respect to lands within Kings Canyon National Park, Sequoia National Park, and Yosemite National Park.
; and
(2) in subsection (b), by striking national forests and the public lands and inserting national forests, public lands, and lands within Kings Canyon National Park, Sequoia National Park, and Yosemite National Park.
(b) Giant sequoia stewardship contracts. Section 604(c) of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591c(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
(8) Promoting the health and resiliency of giant sequoias.
(c) Stewardship contracting in certain national parks. Stewardship contracting projects occurring in Kings Canyon National Park, Sequoia National Park, and Yosemite National Park shall be carried out in accordance with the laws (including regulations) applicable to the National Park Service, including section 100753 of title 54, United States Code.