Who Will Speak for the Trees? How the Save Our Sequoias Act Underscores the Urgent Need to Protect Giant Sequoias and the Tule River Indian Reservation from Wildfire Destruction

Authors

Bradly DeMoll

Abstract

Increasing rates of high-severity wildfires threaten the existence of giant sequoia trees, as well as the reservation and sacred cultural sites of the Tule River Indian Tribe. Decades of fire suppression have created a ticking time bomb across millions of acres of land. The result: the last two fire seasons alone wiped out nearly 20% of all giant sequoias on the planet and burned thousands of acres of forests across the Tribe’s land. This Article explores the ecological background and significance of the giant sequoias and their relationship to the Tribe. It then examines the existing legal framework for sequoia grove management and analyzes the proposed legal framework under the House version of the Save Our Sequoias Act. This Article highlights some of the advantages of the bill while conceding its main weaknesses, ultimately arguing that the bill could provide powerful tools for both implementing a swift and effective response to the increasing threat of high-severity wildfires in giant sequoia groves and advancing the interests, knowledge, and concerns of Indigenous people of the area—namely the Tule River Tribe.

Recommended Citation

Bradly DeMoll, Who Will Speak for the Trees? How the Save Our Sequoias Act Underscores the Urgent Need to Protect Giant Sequoias and the Tule River Indian Reservation from Wildfire Destruction, 30 Hastings Envt'l L.J. 127 (2024)
Available at: https://repository.uclawsf.edu/hastings_environmental_law_journal/vol30/iss2/4