Costa, bipartisan members introduce ‘Save our Sequoias Act’

SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – A push by valley congressmen could see more resources going to protect some of the most iconic plant life in the state of California.

Congressman Jim Costa says they want to do some forest management now and help reduce some of the fuel that could feed fires later this year.

“It’s an effort, a bipartisan effort to really ensure we maintain and protect mother nature’s heritage that she’s given us,” said Costa. 

“Wanna do everything we can to ensure we provide the resources for the U.S. Forest Service to protect these magnificent trees, the largest and oldest trees of their kind, anywhere in the world,” Costa said. 

The “Save the Sequoias” act would help protect the trees from fires that could pose a threat to them in the future.

Costa says the push in Washington comes after a delegation of California lawmakers visited several redwood groves.

“Having this bipartisan delegation visit there for half a day and seeing the devastating fire created up to the grove of sequoias reminded us all we need to do our part,” added Costa. 

“We did do a lot of work last year to reduce the fuels around the giant sequoias,” said Gretchen Fitzgerald with the Sequoia National Forest. 

Fitzgerald says the wildfire seasons of 2020 and 2021 were tough as they lost 19 percent of their giant sequoias. The unique trees only grow naturally in the Sierra Nevada.

“We want to restore our forests and protect them from burning, we lost a lot of our forest cover in the last few years with the drought in 2017 and the fires in 2020 and 21 so saving the giant sequoias is super important but so is the whole landscape,” added Fitzgerald. 

 Fitzgerald says they appreciate the funding they’ve been getting to stay proactive.

“You can’t stop fire but you can try and reduce the fuel so it’s not as hot and those giant sequoias are fire adaptive, they should be able to survive,” she said. 

The hope is for the bill to be signed into law before the next fire season starts later this year.