Sequoia National Forest - Projects and Plans, Giant Sequoia National Monument Management Plan

Giant Sequoia National Monument Management Plan

The Giant Sequoia National Monument (Monument) is a publicly owned treasure in California's southern Sierra Nevada. The Monument's diverse geologic formations, ecosystems, and human history hold unique opportunities for public education, scientific study, and recreation. The Monument covers 328,000 acres of the Sequoia National Forest.

The public review period on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement and Management Plan ended on December 10, 2010. We received over 79,000 public comments on the draft documents. Since December, our interdisciplinary planning team, regional experts, and scientists have been reviewing and developing responses to these well thought out and substantive comments. The team is working diligently to prepare the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and Management Plan, including making chages to the documents in response to your comments. Read the update letter sent August 18, 2011.

As part of the planning process for the Monument, the interdisciplinary team and the public evaluated and used Multi-Criteria Decision Support (MCDS). This tool was used at public meetings to create a Decision Framework which, during the scoping period, was presented on the Values and Interest-Based Explorer (VIBE) website. We encourage you to use this tool again for this comment period, to explore and evaluate the actual alternatives in the DEIS, on the Decision Framework website. The Comment Portal and the Decision Framework websites link to each other so that you can explore and comment more seamlessly.

THE SCIENCE REVIEW PROCESS

The Science Review Panel reviewed the DEIS and Draft Management Plan in April and submitted their report in May. A copy of this report and the Forest Service response are available on the Comment Portal and on the Science page of this website.

Before finalizing the documents, a science review of the FEIS will be completed. Find out more about the Science Review Process by following the Science link in the sidebar to the right.

BACKGROUND

After the first Monument Plan was remanded in 2006, the Forest began the process for developing a new plan to guide the management of the Monument. A significant portion of the planning process has involved public involvement and collaboration. This approach to planning is about sharing power and ensuring the planning process is transparent to all--every step of the way (please see the Forest Supervisor's Message links for Stages 1, 2, and 3 in the sidebar to the right). Since the scoping period and development of draft alternatives, the interdisciplinary team has used your input to develop and analyze the final alternatives. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS)and Draft Management Plan are now published for public review. The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), the Record of Decision (ROD), and Final Management Plan are expected to be published in June 2011.

Please join us in upcoming meetings for the Monument Plan. You can find out what meetings are scheduled by following the Meeting Schedule link in the sidebar to the right. And use the other links to explore the background and history of the Monument, the active role Science has in Monument planning and the work of the Science Review Panel, a review of the Mediated Settlement Agreement, and partnership and recreational opportunities in the Monument.

[Thumbnail]: giant sequoia. Giant Sequoia Photo Gallery »
The old saying, "A picture is worth a thousand words" is certainly true when viewing photographs of giant sequoias.