Save Our Sequoias Act

This bill, called the Save Our Sequoias Act, focuses on protecting and restoring giant sequoia groves in and around national parks and forests in California. It sets up a shared plan between federal agencies, the State of California, and the Tule River Indian Tribe, supported by a science-based assessment and a public website that tracks projects and progress. For the next seven years, it treats this work as an emergency so crews can move faster on tasks like thinning, prescribed burning, and removing hazard trees, with some projects allowed to proceed without long environmental studies. The aim is to cut fire fuels in at least three groves each year, backed by dedicated “Strike Teams” to get work done on the ground.

The bill funds hands-on work and long-term recovery. It offers grants to nonprofits, tribes, local governments, academic institutions, and businesses to build markets for removed wood and brush (like biomass or biochar), lower hauling costs, expand nursery capacity, and support Tribal stewardship. It also creates a donation-backed fund for sequoia projects, with at least 15% reserved for Tribal efforts. The bill expands partnership tools so states, tribes, and counties can carry out restoration inside Sequoia, Kings Canyon, and Yosemite, and lets related timber revenue stay local for more restoration. It authorizes federal funding from 2026 through 2032, with most of the money aimed at on-the-ground emergency work and these grants.

• Who is affected: Communities near giant sequoia groves in and around Sequoia, Kings Canyon, Yosemite, and nearby national forests; the Tule River Indian Tribe; and nonprofits, local governments, academic institutions, and small businesses that do restoration work.
• What changes: Faster, coordinated forest health projects (with limits on project size), Strike Teams to implement them, new grants and a donation fund with a Tribal set‑aside, and expanded partnership tools that keep restoration dollars local.
• When: The assessment and the reforestation plan are due within six months of enactment; the emergency period lasts seven years; the target is treating at least three groves each year; some partnership authority ends in 2030; and federal funding runs 2026–2032.