Giant Sequoia National Monument
Encyclopedia
U.S. National Monument
A National Monument in the United States is a protected area that is similar to a National Park except that the President of the United States can quickly declare an area of the United States to be a National Monument without the approval of Congress. National monuments receive less funding and...
located in the southern Sierra Nevada in eastern central California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. It is administered by the United States Forest Service
United States Forest Service
The United States Forest Service is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass...
as part of the Sequoia National Forest
Sequoia National Forest
Sequoia National Forest is located in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains of California. The U.S. National Forest is named for the majestic Giant Sequoia trees which populate 38 distinct groves within the boundaries of the forest....
and includes 38 of the 39 Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum)
Sequoiadendron
Sequoiadendron giganteum is the sole living species in the genus Sequoiadendron, and one of three species of coniferous trees known as redwoods, classified in the family Cupressaceae in the subfamily Sequoioideae, together with Sequoia sempervirens and...
groves that are located in the Sequoia National Forest, about half of the sequoia groves currently in existence, including one of the ten largest Giant Sequoias, the Boole Tree, which is 269 feet (82 m) high with a base circumference of 112 feet (38 m). The forest covers 824 square miles (1,326 square kilometers).
The monument is in two sections. The northern section surrounds General Grant Grove and other parts of Kings Canyon National Park
Kings Canyon National Park
Kings Canyon National Park is a National Park in the southern Sierra Nevada, east of Fresno, California. The park was established in 1940 and covers...
and is administered by the Hume Lake Ranger District. The southern section, which includes Long Meadow Grove
Long Meadow Grove
Long Meadow Grove, also known by some as Redwood Meadow Grove, is a giant sequoia grove in California which offers a half mile interpretive trail, Trail of 100 Giants, through majestic mature sequoias. The grove is part of the southern section of Giant Sequoia National Monument and is administered...
, is directly south of Sequoia National Park
Sequoia National Park
Sequoia National Park is a national park in the southern Sierra Nevada east of Visalia, California, in the United States. It was established on September 25, 1890. The park spans . Encompassing a vertical relief of nearly , the park contains among its natural resources the highest point in the...
and is administered by the Western Divide Ranger District, surrounding the eastern half of the Tule River Indian Reservation.
The Giant Sequoia National Monument was Proclamation 7295 by President Bill Clinton on April 15, 2000. The Presidential Proclamation was published in the Federal Register, Tuesday, April 25, 2000, Vol. 65, No. 80
Monument Management
The Presidential Proclamation required that a management plan be completed within three years. In January 2004, the Sequoia National Forest published and began implementation of the Giant Sequoia National Monument Management Plan, which provided for use by an international public as well as for the protection and restoration of 33 giant sequoia groves and their ecosystems. Subsequently, two lawsuits were brought challenging the Plan. In October 2006, Federal District Court Judge Charles Breyer found in favor of the plaintiffs and remanded the Plan to the U.S. Forest Service "…so that a proper Monument Plan can be developed in accordance with the Presidential Proclamation,… and in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)…"In January 2008, the Sequoia National Forest published a Notice of Intent (NOI) in the Federal Register that they intended to prepare an environmental impact statement and was beginning a year-long collaborative scoping process for development of a new Giant Sequoia National Monument Management Plan.
As of August 2010 only one location in the Monument is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
, General's Highway, but the Monument does have several hundred sites that are potentially eligible for the Register.
See also
- Ecology of the Sierra Nevada
- List of giant sequoia groves
- List of largest giant sequoias
- Category: Fauna of the Sierra Nevada (U.S.)
- Category: Flora of the Sierra Nevada region (U.S.)