Giant Sequoia National Monument needs massive effort

As I start my letter, I want to thank Tina Terrell, forest supervisor for Sequoia National Forest and the Giant Sequoia National Monument, for her effort in trying to make a positive out of the negative we call the Giant Sequoia National Monument.

I would like to thank  the dedicated people who are still attending all of the meetings concerning the future of the Monument.

I need to say: the Giant Sequoia National  Monument is a travesty to our area.

The Monument was another in many Clinton and Babbitt monuments forced upon us by a president who was desperately trying to have a legacy — besides the one he had with the intern.

Remember, the Giant Sequoia National Monument was put together in the cover of darkness as a last effort by the Sierra Club to kill logging/timber harvesting in this area and in California.

Many businesses  have been closed down; many counties, cities and smaller towns lost a tremendous amount of tax revenue; and it has taken close to 10 years for them to actually start to see some positive financial change.

The Giant Sequoia National Monument was forced upon our area without any plan (but to kill timber harvesting). No one, not even the Forest Service knew what to do with this new Monument.

Oh yes, there was a “directive” on what the Giant Sequoia National Monument was to do: Protect the Giant Sequoias. But remember that was already done by a mandate by then-President George H.W. Bush.

The real question for the Giant Sequoia National Monument was: How and what do we do next?

After more than eight years of meetings (no help from the environmental organizations and their threatening lawsuits) there is now a movement to start a marketing plan.

Forest Supervisor Terrell, I wish you well. I wish you well that somehow the Monument will actually be a positive to this area. I wish you well in bringing back the income of the people who used to make their living in the forest. I wish you well in your effort and the effort of many others, in making the Monument a positive instead of a large question mark.

A Web site will help. Shirts will help. This quest is going to take a grand effort by the federal government plus Fresno, Kern and Tulare county governments. A real effort is needed to actually put money into tourism, not just more small bandages and promises from politicians trying to get elected.

A point: The Tulare County EDC has absorbed the old Sequoia Regional Visitors Council; but has the EDC really done much for tourism? Do the governments of Tulare County, and other counties, really believe in tourism that will help the communities around the Giant Sequoia National Monument?

To help you, Forest Service Supervisor Terrell, there is going to have to be a concentrated effort (I stress the point) from all the federal government elected officials, the three counties and all the cities to help put a focus on the Giant Sequoia National Monument; or all of these years of hard work by all of these people, including you, will be in vain.
John Keyes
Springville