Environmental Groups File Papers to Help Save Act That Protects Sequoias

SAN FRANCISCO —  A coalition of environmental groups filed court papers Tuesday, seeking to save a federal act that protects giant sequoia trees.

The coalition is seeking to join the U.S. government as defendants in a suit brought by logging interests, recreational groups and Tulare County.

If the motion is granted, the coalition will move to dismiss the suit, said Michael Sherwood, an attorney with Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund.

Earthjustice is representing the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Sierra Club, the Wilderness Society and the Tule River Conservancy.

The October lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., and contends that former President Bill Clinton exceeded his authority by designating 330,000 acres of the giant trees in the Sequoia National Forest as a national monument. The act made the ancient trees off-limits to logging, mining and off-road vehicles.

The federal government has been sued over national monument designations before, but none has been overturned because of a suit, Sherwood said.

The suit was brought by Sierra Forest Products, Sierra Nevada Access Multiple-Use & Stewardship Coalition, Tulare County and others, who are asking that the designation be overturned, or at least shrunk to the 6% of the forest where the trees have thrived for thousands of years.