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Sequoia Trail News
October 2021
Stewards Volunteers Will Be Reinstated????
As the USDA investigator pointed out many times over the past several months, “Stewards of the Sequoia have not been accused of any wrong doing and they are not guilty of any wrong doing, so we need to reinstate
their volunteers immediately”.
Yet the Forest Service reneged on the promise to reinstate Stewards last week citing of all things that Stewards Executive Director spoke to local Forest Staff recently about possibly being reinstated which supposedly
caused staff to be stressed and seek counseling.
Stewards Director was responding to Forest staff at a meeting they hosted asking for volunteers. One would think that an offer to bring in lots of trained volunteers would make land managers happy. After all Forest
Service land managers job is to work with and encourage volunteerism.
The USDA is now going to investigate the ongoing discrimination against Stewards volunteers. Our attorney is also looking at filing a separate action against the Forest Service for civil rights violations.
It is unjust that Stewards have to fight to be allowed to continue our successful volunteer work in the Sequoia National Forest. It is wrong that the Forest Service is turning away trained productive volunteers and
discouraging volunteerism at the same time they are asking for increased volunteerism.
Chaparrals MC and Ventura County MC Step Up To Help Stewards
 The
Chaparrals annual Alpine Dual Sport raised $2350 and the VCMC Bishop Dual Sport Ride raised $2000 to support Stewards continued efforts to keep Sequoia trails open. This kind of club funding has helped Stewards accomplish so much since 2004. We prevented several
proposed trail system closures as well as building new trails and have prevented virtually all trail closures in Sequoia.
Some people mistakenly think since Stewards volunteer agreement was wrongfully terminated by the Forest Service that we are no longer an organization worthy of support. Actually, our continued advocacy work is the
most important aspect of what Stewards does to keep your trails open.
If you have let your membership lapse as so many have please consider renewing now so that Stewards can be in strong financial position for likely future legal action. When out on the trails please consider that
if not for Stewards the trails you are on would likely be closed. Please give to Stewards so we can continue fighting and winning to keep your Sequoia trails open.
Stewards Ramp Up On BLM Keysville Trail Projects
Stewards will continue performing trail maintenance on BLM trails once we get some moisture on the ground. We will also begin repairing the damage to trails in the French Fire burn area on BLM lands and begin signing
the Keysville trails to help reduce trail braiding and erosion. Volunteer dates will be announced based on weather.
Please respond to this email if you would like to be placed on a list to be notified of upcoming trtail dates
Forest Service Cancels Piute Trail Plan
NOTE-Most Stewards members are not familiar with the lengthy history of Piute Trail Planning since 2005, but we think it is important for you to understand this especially as we move into a new
phase of Piute Planning where the Forest Service seems intent on erasing past history to possibly enable them to improperly close most Piute Trails. Knowledge is power and Stewards is proactively working to ensure our past hard won efforts to keep Piute trails
open are not erased so we can continue to prevent Piute trail closures. We urge you to take a moment to read the following synopsis-
A Forest Service trail plan has never been completed for the Piutes which hosts a world class network of historic single-track trails. The Piutes is one of the few remaining contiguous motorized single-track trail
systems in California.
In 2005 the Forest Service was tasked with inventorying all existing motorized trails and roads in every National Forest and determining if they could become part of the National Forest Trail System.
The Sequoia Forest staff then attempted to claim there were only about eleven single track trails in the Piutes and that all the many other existing historic single-track trails were illegal and would not be considered.
Stewards of the Sequoia responded and pointed out the Forest Service had recently made a map inventorying all the Piute trails and that by law they must analyze and consider all of them. They acquiesced and started the analysis to add trails. The devastating
2008 Piute 40,000 acre fire caused the Forest Service to remove the Piutes from the overall Breckenridge, Greenhorn, Lake Isabella Piute Travel Plan in 2010.
The Forest Service immediately continued the Piute Travel Plan in a separate planning process. The Forest Service asked Stewards of the Sequoia to meet with the Sierra Club, Sequoia Forest Keepers and the Wilderness
Society. Stewards asked why it would be appropriate for our multiple use group to meet with three anti access groups about a motorized trail plan and was told we were the players and should try to find common ground. Stewards agreed but it turned out most
of those groups had standing orders not to meet with any opposing interest group.
The Forest Service stated they would have to cancel the Piute Plan due to lack of public interest.. Stewards asked why the Forest Service was not hosting a meeting with the many other recreation and community organizations.
Stewards were told the Forest Service did not know who those groups were.
Stewards offered to contact them and over 30 organizations attended the Piute Travel Plan meetings in 2010 and developed a 2011 Proposed Action which confirmed the need to analyze all Piute trails which were also
shown on the Piute Proposed Action Map to consider each of them for addition to the National Forest Trail System. The Sierra Club and Wilderness Society did not attend the meetings as they do not wish to consider other points of view contrary to their closure
agenda.
The Piute Travel Plan process was put on hold in 2012 with the Forest Service stating it was still a priority which would resume shortly. However, when the Forest Plan Revision was started in 2014, we were told Piute
Planning would resume when the Forest Plan was completed in about two years. It is still not completed.
On October 1, 2021the Forest Service cancelled the long-standing Piute Travel Management Plan in their Schedule Of Proposed Actions, but they did not make any effort to inform the public or stakeholders. Prior to
cancelling the Piute Plan the Forest Service staff have stated several times they are going to start Piute Travel Planning and have also just now confirmed in writing that they will be doing Piute Travel Planning early next year. At this time, the Forest Service
is claiming they cannot talk to us about Piute Trail Planning until they start the Piute Trail Plan next year.
It makes no sense to cancel a plan only to restart the plan, unless they want to invalidate all the past work and claim once again that there are only 11 trails in the Piutes and improperly close the remaining world
class hundred miles of single-track trails.
Stewards of the Sequoia have recently submitted 14 simple questions asking what the justification is for cancelling the Piute Plan as well as pointing out that cancelling the Piute Trail Plan would be a violation
of the Travel Management Rule among other things. Forest Staff have so far refused to answer. Yet they are required to inform the public about their actions such as planning cancellations and to respond to public inquiries.
Stewards will continue to be engaged in this very serious issue and work to ensure the existing Piute Trails are not closed improperly. Without Stewards advocacy, the Piute trails would have been closed in 2005.
Your continued donations are needed to fund Stewards successful efforts to help prevent the Piute trails from being closed now and to engage in a planning process to make as any Piute motorized trails as possible legal.
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SPOTLIGHT ON LOCAL BUSINESS
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One of the best things about Littlejohn’s English Toffee House at the Los Angeles Farmer’s Market is our open-window kitchen. Look through it and you’ll experience Littlejohn’s
80-year tradition of making candy by hand one small batch at a time. Not much has changed here since the 1920s, right down to the candy makers in crisp white uniforms hand-crafting mouthwatering Fudge, English Toffee, Caramels and other confections, stirring
them over open flames in copper kettles and working each decadent batch to perfection on marble tables.
But even if you can’t make it to L.A., you can still enjoy all the delights we make in our shop. Browse, deliberate (it won’t be easy), then place your order and we’ll ship the world’s finest hand-made candy right to your doorstep.
Check out their site
http://www.littlejohnscandies.com
Support the folks like Littlejohn Candy who support Stewards
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