Congressman Opposes Land Closures !

KTMrad · March 22, 2010

From Stewards of the Seqouia.................

Something very exciting has just happened, but first I want to tell you about my recent conversation with a Stewards member regarding the Travel Management Plan which will determine where the public can recreate for future generations.

He told me that he was glad Stewards had worked so hard and done what we could and now we just need to hope for the best.

I was floored....

All our work attending meetings, researching and reading many thousands of pages of planning documents and drafting extensive substantive comments was not done so we could hope for the best. It was done so we could be stakeholders and make positive changes to the plans to keep trails open.

The final Pro Access Trail Plan was created by the Sequoia Forest Service in response to Stewards of the Sequoia efforts, however we have filed an appeal over some important aspects which are unacceptable. This is not the end. This is just the beginning.

LEGAL APPEAL FILED

Stewards of the Sequoia filed a legal appeal on the Sequoia National Forest Service regarding the proposed Fixed Date Closures of 181 miles of trails for no reason, as well as lakeside access and other important issues. Simultaneously Stewards launched a letter writing campaign which produced almost 500 letters during a short 14 day period from the public opposing this fixed date seasonal closure of 181 miles of the public's trails. The Stewards campaign included letters from businesses and organizations representing over 30,000 members such as:

• Kernville Chamber of Commerce

• Kern River Valley Chamber of Commerce

• Lake Isabella Bodfish Homeowners Association

• Upper Tule Homeowners Association

• Fish & Game Habitat Club

• California Trail Users Coalition

• California Deer Association

• Californian Off Highway Vehicle Association

• Century 21 Real Estate

• Southern Sierra Fat Tire Mountain Bike Association

• KOA Campgrounds

• WISE Forests

• Stewards of the Sierra National Forest

• Recreation Opportunity Coalition

• National Off Road Association

THE SQUEAKY WHEEL GETS THE GREASE

Stewards provided those hundreds of letters from the public, as well as our appeal to Congressman McCarthy and briefed his staff in order for the COngressman to be fully aware of this situation, which will needlessly restrict public access.

CONGRESSMAN MCCARTHY HEARD US AND TAKES ACTION!

Seeing that his constituents and the public were being unfairly locked out of their public lands, Congressman McCarthy penned this letter to the Sequoia National Forest urging them to reconsider this "unprecedented- one size fits all" closure decision and urges them to allow continued access on all trails unless there is a valid reason to close them due to actual snow conditions, as well as to allow continued vehicular lakeside access.

Please take a minute to read the Congressman's letter submitted on your behalf. We owe the Congressman our thanks for taking action and will be a very powerful motivator for the Forest Service to make the needed changes.

I want to thank those businesses and organizations and the many Stewards members who took the time to send a letter asking Congressman McCarthy to help stop the proposed closures. You made a difference.

THIS IS HOW THE SYSTEM WORKS-PUBLIC PRESSURE CREATING ACTION BY YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS

It takes public involvement to make things happen and Stewards of the Sequoia are happy we have been able to help our members be more active and make a difference to keep your trails open.

If you thought the current Trail Plan was the end of the road then take a look at all the other plans at the bottom of this Newsletter which Stewards are working on to preserve public access and promote forest health. Soon we can add the Piute Trail Plan and the Forest Planning Rule to that list.

So the next time you are sitting around the campfire listening to others complaining that their Congressman or other elected officials are not helping keep trails open to the public, ask them when the last time was they wrote a letter or called their Congressman or elected officials and asked for help, or if they support groups like Stewards of the Sequoia who are actively working to keep their trails open.

A large portion of Stewards members do not read Stewards Newsletters or Alerts like this one, so they are probably not aware of what Stewards have been doing to help keep trails open. Please tell your friends who enjoy recreating in the Sequoia about Stewards achievements and that we need support more than every to meet the coming challenges. Together we can help keep our trails open

Chris Horgan

Executive Director

Stewards of the Sequoia

IMPORTANT ISSUES STEWARDS ARE WORKING ON:

GREENHORN/BRECEKENRIDGE/LAKE ISABELLA TRAIL PLAN

http://stewardsofthesequoia.org/AlertSequo...lInventory.html

STEWARDS SUPPORTS FOREST MANAGEMENT TO PROMOTE PIUTE FOREST HEALTH

http://www.stewardsofthesequoia.org/PDF/CO...orationDEIS.pdf

STEWARDS TELLS THE FOREST SERVICE HOW TO MAKE A BETTER TRAIL PLAN

http://stewardsofthesequoia.org/ALERT-FEIS...lanComment.html

STEWARDS HELPS RESTORE TROUT STOCKING IN THE KERN RIVER

http://stewardsofthesequoia.org/ALERT-TroutStockingBan.html