In celebration of Arbor Day this year, bipartisan leaders in Congress, including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), reintroduced legislation to manage and protect California’s giant sequoia groves. The legislation passed out of committee by voice vote earlier this month and is expected to come to the House floor for a vote soon.
Planting trees and properly managing our forests has become an increasingly bipartisan priority in Congress and among the public. The Save Our Sequoias Act garnered 50 bipartisan co-sponsors during the 117th Congress. In 2021, 90% of people were in favor of planting 1 trillion trees to store carbon dioxide, according to Pew Research Center. After all, it’s impossible to be anti-tree.
Not only are they a beautiful natural wonder, but the giant sequoias in California can live up to 2,000 years and store up to 500 metric tons of carbon dioxide throughout their lives. For reference, the average hardwood tree stores approximately one metric ton of carbon dioxide over 100 years. Collectively, a redwood forest can store more than 2,500 metric tons of carbon per hectare. To put that into perspective, that’s the equivalent of taking more than 540 cars off the road for a year.
Yet these groves are in serious danger. Wildfires, exacerbated by both poor forest management and climate change, have ravaged the ecosystems. In the last eight years, we’ve seen nearly one-fifth of these groves destroyed. That’s why legislators from both sides of the aisle, as well as industry and nonprofit groups, are rallying around the Save Our Sequoias Act, which would empower local stakeholders to protect these iconic trees without lowering environmental standards.
For too long, our philosophy around forest management has been to let forests manage themselves. This may sound nice in theory, but the lack of management has created a kindling box ready to blow. For example, by failing to clear underbrush that serves as kindling to wildfires, we’ve put trees such as the giant sequoias at risk. Wildfires result in billions of dollars in damage, release stunning amounts of carbon dioxide into our atmosphere, and devastate key ecosystems.
Put simply, we’ve failed our forests. Of course, forest management, wildfire prevention, and reforestation are important no matter the species of tree, but the loss of our giant sequoias would be devastating for California ecosystems and our climate. We can no longer afford to cling to preservation techniques when what our forests need is active management. This is not, contrary to what some may say, the dismantling of bedrock environmental laws, but simply learning from our mistakes. We have the tools to prevent many of these damaging fires, and we’d be foolish not to use them.
After all, old-growth forests are a secret weapon against climate change. The carbon storage potential is massive, and these trees support vibrant ecosystems around them. If the giant sequoias are destroyed, they have the potential to bring down entire ecosystems with them.
Giant sequoia groves are an American landmark, and they should be protected. Conserving our natural heritage is important both for people and the planet.
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