HR2709-119

What This Bill Does

The Save Our Sequoias Act builds a dedicated federal response for giant sequoia groves threatened by high-severity wildfire, insects, and drought. It covers National Park Service lands in Kings Canyon, Sequoia, and Yosemite National Parks; Bureau of Land Management lands at Case Mountain; and National Forest System lands in Sequoia National Forest, Giant Sequoia National Monument, Sierra National Forest, and Tahoe National Forest. The bill directs shared stewardship among the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture, California, and the Tule River Tribe; codifies the Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition; requires a science-based health and resiliency assessment; declares a seven-year emergency for Protection Projects; establishes reforestation strategies and strike teams; creates restoration grants; adds insect monitoring and technology partnerships; expands good-neighbor and stewardship contracting; creates a philanthropic Giant Sequoia Emergency Protection Fund; and authorizes escalating appropriations for fiscal years 2026 through 2032.

Who Benefits and How

Giant sequoia conservation projects benefit from a coordinated federal, state, tribal, and philanthropic framework aimed at fuels reduction, reforestation, rehabilitation, insect monitoring, and drought resilience. The National Park Service, Forest Service, and Bureau of Land Management benefit from explicit authorities, emergency procedures, strike teams, contracting tools, and outside foundation support for sequoia work. The Tule River Tribe and other California tribes benefit from formal roles in the Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition, shared stewardship, grant eligibility, tribal management support, and funding for tribal historic preservation officers. Rural communities near sequoia groves, small forestry businesses, tree nurseries, biomass producers, biochar producers, academic institutions, and nonprofit conservation organizations benefit from grant and contracting opportunities tied to hazardous-fuels removal, nursery capacity, restoration science, and job creation.

Who Bears the Burden and How

The Secretary of the Interior and Secretary of Agriculture must negotiate shared stewardship arrangements, implement emergency Protection Projects, establish strike teams, build reforestation and insect-monitoring strategies, administer grants, approve foundation-funded projects, and allocate authorized funds. The Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition must produce assessments, prioritize projects, analyze policy barriers, and coordinate across federal, state, tribal, university, county, and foundation partners. Conservation advocacy groups and environmental review participants may lose procedural leverage because the bill gives emergency authorities and legal force to expedited NEPA, Endangered Species Act, and historic-preservation procedures for Protection Projects. Federal taxpayers bear the cost of authorized appropriations up to $10 million in fiscal year 2026, $25 million in fiscal year 2027, $30 million annually for fiscal years 2028 through 2030, and $40 million annually for fiscal years 2031 and 2032.

Key Provisions

• Defines covered public lands, covered National Forest System lands, giant sequoia groves, Protection Projects, reforestation, restoration, and the Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition.
• Requires a shared stewardship agreement with California and the Tule River Tribe for short-term and long-term giant sequoia management, conservation, and restoration.
• Establishes the Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition and assigns duties to produce assessments, coordinate projects, identify policy barriers, and improve public-private restoration work.
• Requires a Giant Sequoia Health and Resiliency Assessment identifying disturbed groves, high-risk groves, nearby wildfire-risk lands, reforestation needs, priority Protection Projects, and policy recommendations.
• Declares a seven-year giant sequoia emergency and allows Protection Projects to proceed under expedited environmental, historic-preservation, and endangered-species procedures.
• Directs a Giant Sequoia Reforestation and Rehabilitation Strategy addressing priority groves, barriers, nursery capacity, workforce shortages, science gaps, public-private partnerships, and genetic diversity.
• Creates Giant Sequoia Strike Teams to support reviews, site preparation, Protection Projects, and reforestation or rehabilitation work.
• Establishes collaborative restoration grants for nonprofits, tribal governments, local governments, academic institutions, private organizations, small businesses, rural job creation, biomass, biochar, nursery capacity, and tribal management.
• Expands good-neighbor and stewardship contracting tools for Kings Canyon, Sequoia, Yosemite, BLM lands, and National Park Service lands.
• Establishes a Giant Sequoia Emergency Protection Program and Fund through the National Park Foundation, National Forest Foundation, and Foundation for America's Public Lands.
• Authorizes appropriations from fiscal years 2026 through 2032 and requires at least 90 percent of authorized funds to support Protection Projects and collaborative restoration grants.