Stop Clearcutting CA

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Stop Clearcutting CA

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Join Sierra Club's campaign to stop clearcutting in California's forests and protect old growth and mature forests on public land.

Stop Clearcutting CA is Sierra Club's campaign to end clearcutting in California. Our page also seeks to provide information and photos related to other Sierra Club initiatives, such as the recent initiative to protect old growth and mature forests on federal land. The clearcutting of hundreds of thousands of acres of forests is harming water quality, forest health and communities throughout the state. Help protect California's communities and natural resources by ending this outdated and destructive practice once and for all. Please JOIN our Addup Campaign and SIGN our Petition to Gov. Newsom at https://addup.sierraclub.org/campaigns/take-action-tell-gavin-newsom-to-stop-clearcutting-in-california. Also, sign up for our newsletter at: https://goo.gl/forms/yTEMsYZkAstXpYdz1

Learn more and find out about other events and actions you can take at:
https://linktr.ee/noclearcuts

10/07/2026

We invite you to join us for the next Forest Protection Forum from 4pm to 5:15pm PDT on October 19th!

Link to sign up is in the comments!⬇️🔗

George Wuerthner will discuss, “Wildfire Myths and Policy Implications.”

George has shared this description of the session with us:
George “will provide an update on wildfires across the western United States and the country in 2026. He will also address common myths about wildfire ecology that have resulted in poor public policies and, ultimately, have failed to reduce wildfire losses and have degraded natural vegetation ecosystems. This includes a discussion of the Fix Our Forest Act, which promotes increased logging and burning on public lands, does not effectively protect communities from wildfires, and focuses on thinning and burning forests rather than hardening homes and communities.”

Bio: George is an ecologist and photographer who has visited more than 400 designated wilderness areas and more than 200 National Park System units. For a dozen years, he worked as Ecological Projects Director for Doug Tompkins’s Foundation for Deep Ecology and is Executive Director of Public Lands Media. George has published 38 books, including “Wildfire: A Century of Failed Forest Policy,” “Protecting the Wild: Parks and Wilderness Foundation for Conservation,” and “Keeping the Wild: Against the Domestication of the Earth.”

Photo sourced from: George Wuerthner

10/05/2026

🚨The deadline for the Roadless Rule comment period is coming up on Tuesday October 6th. In California, 4.4 million acres, across 20 national forests, are at risk of losing the protections provided by the Roadless Rule.

👉The Roadless Rule generally prohibits new roads, reconstruction of roads, and commercial timber harvest in Inventoried Roadless Areas, with limited exceptions. Inventoried Roadless Areas can be characterized by certain values or features that contribute to why they are protected. As stated by the U.S. Forest Service, Inventoried Roadless Areas have high quality or undisturbed soil water or air, are sources of public drinking water, uphold diversity of plant and animal communities, provide habitat for endangered species, hold reference landscapes, and safeguard traditional cultural properties and sacred sites.

None of these characteristics have changed in importance. What has changed is this administration’s priorities pertaining to timber production and extractive industry.

🌲California’s many Inventoried Roadless Areas contribute to some of the state's most defining characteristics, including its unique biodiversity and natural grandeur. Take the time now to speak up to help protect California’s inventoried roadless forests from new road building and the commercial timber harvest, and other extractive industries roads could promote in these areas.

📣Submit your public comment by October 6th at the link below⤵

10/01/2026

🌎 75% of the world’s accessible freshwater comes from forested watersheds. Clearcutting threatens forest ecosystems and a vital source of water, Michael Wilkinson states in an April 25 blog, “From Sponge to Drain: The Hydrologic Cost of Deforestation, by Michael Wilkinson.

Forests act as “natural sponges,” Wilkinson explains, absorbing and filtering rainwater into clear, usable groundwater that then diffuses slowly into rivers and lakes. Through transpiration, trees also contribute to rainfall and help regulate weather and climate.

But Wilkinson argues that these life-sustaining ecosystems are in danger. He says clearcut logging destroys these forests and their beneficial hydrological effects piece by piece. Clearcut logging is when nearly all the trees in a large area are cut down at once, rather than selectively removing individual trees. This often leads to destruction of local vegetation and the tree canopy.

“With the loss of canopy that results, rain that once fell gently through that canopy now hits bare ground at full force,” Wilkinson writes.

Wilkinson states that without the trees and roots to absorb and hold that water, rainwater becomes runoff, traveling rapidly across the surface, carrying away soil and pollutants and increasing the risk of flooding.

He asserts that in order to fix water supplies impacted by clearcutting, governments will have to spend millions on water treatment, restoration, flood control, and other infrastructure that biodiverse, ecologically healthy forests previously provided naturally.

🌲 Protecting forest ecosystems isn’t just about conservation; it’s about protecting communities, economies, and essential resources.

🔗Read more at the link below

09/24/2026

A Nevada developer, Kingsbarn Realty Capital, wants to build a road through Yosemite National Park to reach a remote 83-acre private property on the park's western border. No final decision has been made, but the administration is reportedly considering trading a strip of federal land inside Yosemite for an area of roughly equal value that Kingsbarn owns.

🌲This deal could set a precedent for trading away protected public lands.The Department of the Interior also notified Congress that public conservation funds may be used to cover the cost of the exchange.

In 1908, John Muir warned that Yosemite had been "attacked by spoilers ever since it was established," and that "nothing dollarable is safe, however guarded." We must act to safeguard our national parks from corruption and development.
Tell Congress to stop this deal and protect Yosemite.

📣Take action at the link in the comments below! ⬇️

09/23/2026

We have today to submit comments asking USFS to keep the current restrictions for motor vehicles in national forests in place.

Submit your comments today via link below!

09/22/2026

🚨The Endangered Species Act is under attack AGAIN.

The current federal administration recently gutted critical habitat protections under the Endangered Species Act, putting sensitive landscapes, and the wildlife that depend on them, directly in the crosshairs.🐺

The good news? Senators Schiff and Whitehouse aren't standing by. They've introduced legislation, S.J. Res. 204, to reverse this rule and keep habitat protections strong.

📣Now we need YOU.

Take action now at the link below!⬇

👉Message your Senator today and tell them to back this bill.

Because a strong Endangered Species Act means a beautiful, wild future. 🌎💚

09/21/2026

Ask the U.S. Forest Service to keep the current Travel Management Rule in place.

🚩Take action by submitting a public comment at the link below⬇️

🌲In May President Trump issued an executive order rewriting the 20 year principle that National Forest Lands should be “closed unless open” to motorized vehicles.

What this means: Right now national forest land is closed to motorized vehicles unless specifically designated as open. If the rule is rewritten, national forest lands would be open to motorized vehicles unless specifically designated as closed.

If implemented this reversal could invite much environmental harm such as soil erosion and habitat degradation. It could also impact the experience of quieter recreation activities like hiking. Many public land managers appreciate the need for a “closed unless open” principle as it protects forests from resource damage and user conflicts.

This change would require huge amounts of resources to complete and manage. Yet, the U.S. Forest Service lost 6,000 employees in 2025 alone and the administration is proposing a 75% cut to the U.S. Forest Service discretionary budget in the fiscal year 2027 budget. Additionally, the Forest Service is closing 23 facilities across multiple states and the administration is still proposing prioritization of local management for forested areas with limited guidelines from the federal government.

Tell the Forest Service to keep the, "closed unless open" principle for motorized vehicles in National Forest Lands.

09/19/2026

We invite you to join us for the next Forest Protection Forum from 4pm to 5:15pm PST on Monday September 28th!

Link to sign up is in the comments!⬇️🔗

Senator Ben Allen will discuss, “Insuring the California Dream,” regarding home hardening, wildfire preparedness, and insurance.

California State Senator Ben Allen represents the 24th Senate District covering the Westside, Hollywood, South Bay, and Santa Monica Mountains communities of LA County. Ben was first elected in 2014 and is now serving his third term in the State Senate. When the fires ravaged the Palisades, Ben took on the insurance industry to make sure victims got what they were owed. Now he’s running for California Insurance Commissioner.

Ben is concerned that Californians are being priced out of their homes by skyrocketing insurance premiums. He wants to address the issue that insurers are dropping homeowners - sometimes without cause. Ben wants to be sure that the Insurance Commissioner works for the policyholders it's supposed to protect.

Photo Source: Canva

09/02/2026

UPDATE: deadline was extended to Oct 6!

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We need your help to submit your public comment about the value of the Roadless Rule by September 21! We have just 20 more days to tell this administration to protect the Roadless Rule.

The link is in the comments below⬇️. Submit your comment by September 21!

🚩The Roadless Rule protects 45 million acres of public lands, including over 4 million acres of forests in California. This administration is proposing a full repeal of the rule.

🌲According to the Old-Growth Forest Network, the Roadless Rule protects about a third of remaining inventoried old-growth forests in U.S. national forests. In addition, it protects mature, biodiverse future old-growth forests, and watersheds that a large number of Americans rely on for access to fresh water. It also prevents logging and extractive industry from taking over these vital areas.

We invite you to share this post so that we can reach 1 million public comments.

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08/31/2026

You are invited to call your California Assemblymember again today ASAP to ask them to OPPOSE SB1370. We heard a vote is expected today.

Address

2101 Webster Street Suite
Oakland, CA
94612

Website

https://www.sierraclub.org/grassroots-network/stop-clearcutting-ca

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