Imagine standing beneath a giant sequoia. These endangered ancient trees can live for more than 3,000 years and tower higher than the Statue of Liberty. For many Utahns, the sequoias of neighboring California are part of the shared beauty of the American West — a place families visit and remember for a lifetime.
Picture the trees in your backyard or neighborhood, there’s a familiarity, hopefully they bring you a sense of peace and well-being … now imagine your world without those trees. That possibility is becoming more real as wildfires intensify across the country, including here in Utah. Nearly 1.9 million acres have already burned nationwide this year, and Utah officials are warning of above-normal wildfire risk because of dry conditions and early snowmelt.
Trees give us far more than scenery. They cool our neighborhoods, clean our air, absorb carbon dioxide and make parks and communities more livable. Giant Sequoias, among the oldest and largest living things on Earth, remind us that some parts of nature are worth protecting simply because they are extraordinary.
That is why I have thanked John Curtis for supporting the Save Our Sequoias Act, legislation designed to protect these irreplaceable trees from catastrophic wildfire and environmental threats before more are lost forever.
Dennis Mullen,
West Jordan
