Sequoia ForestKeeper® FOIA requests
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552,
is a tool that provides the American public a means to ensure that all agency
acts are as transparent as possible.
The
United States Supreme Court has explained that the, "basic purpose of FOIA
is to ensure an informed citizenry, vital to the functioning of a democratic
society, needed to check against corruption and to hold the governors
accountable to the governed." The "FOIA is often explained as a means
for citizens to know 'what their Government is up to.' " The Supreme Court
stressed that "[t]his phrase should not be dismissed as a convenient
formalism." Rather it, "defines a structural necessity in a real
democracy." As President Obama has declared a, "democracy requires
accountability, and accountability requires transparency." The FOIA
"encourages accountability through transparency."
Source:
https://www.justice.gov/archives/open/foia
(U.S. Department of Justice).
On 1 October 2019, Sequoia ForestKeeper® (SFK) requested
documents from Sequoia National Forest that were not publicly noticed in any
way: no publication in the newspaper of record; The Porterville Recorder, or via
the Schedule of Proposed Actions for the Sequoia National Forest (SOPA), or via
email or snail mail notices to interested parties.
On 1 November 2019, SFK received a response
to our request. Of the 47 documents received, SFK believes that nine of the
projects described in those documents had significant environmental consequences,
but the Forest Service did little to no environmental analysis on the potential
adverse effects to wildlife, people, or ecosystems.
For example, did you know that the popular
and free Cedar Creek Campground was being decommissioned? Also, did you know that the Forest Service
has logged and even sold trees along hundreds of miles of road on thousands of
acres, including within the Giant Sequoia National Monument, without public
input or detailed environmental analysis on the effects of these projects to rare and threatened species
like the northern goshawk, the California spotted owl, or the Pacific fisher?
Below are the titles and links to the 47
documents received in response to this FOIA request alone. As we receive
additional documents from future requests, we will also post them so the public
can see what is being done by the Forest Service on the Sequoia National Forest
without their knowledge or input.
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