Lawmakers call for probe of alleged logging of protected pines

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Lawmakers call for probe of alleged logging of protected pines

October 10, 2007

SEQUOIA NATIONAL FOREST, Calif. --Three Congressmen, including Rep. John Olver of Massachusetts, called for a federal probe Wednesday into whether forest managers illegally cut down more than 200 protected trees in the Giant Sequoia National Monument and sold some of the wood for timber.

The legislators asked U.S. Department of Agriculture Inspector General Phyllis K. Fong to investigate the alleged illegal logging of 300-year-old sugar pines and other trees in the monument.

The 328,000-acre preserve is part of the Sequoia National Forest in central California, and is home to two-thirds of the world's largest trees. No sequoias or redwoods are believed to have been illegally logged.

Conservation groups say the U.S. Forest Service cut the trees between 2004 and 2005, when the protected area was cordoned off from public view.

The Forest Service claimed it would only log 138 trees that were at risk of toppling, but conservation groups allege more than 200 trees were chopped down during that time.

"The Sequoia National Monument is a sacred resource that the Forest Service has an obligation to protect for future generations," said Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va. who signed the letter along with Reps. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., and Olver, a Democrat from Amherst. "We need to know if the troubling allegations raised by local conservation groups are legitimate."

Sequoia National Forest officials did not immediately return a call for comment Wednesday

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Wednesday, October 10, 2007