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| Headwaters of Freshwater Creek on Chopping Block as Pacific Lumber Greets 2004 with the Roar of Chainsaws For Immediate Release - Contact: Northcoast Earth First! (707) 268-5613; Remedy (707) 441-9364; Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters (510)548-3113 Humboldt county, California--Forest and watershed activists are mobilizing for an expected New Year's Day assault on upper Freshwater Creek, one of the more intact areas in Maxxam/Pacific Lumber (PL) holdings in the coast redwood forest of Northern California. The lower portion of the 19,000 acre watershed east of Eureka was the site of over 20 tree-sits, some lasting as long as a year in giant redwoods in the spring of 2003, as forest activists fought to protect some of the last high quality coho spawning habitat in the north coast region. After PL contract climbers dramatically and recklessly extracted the sitters from active logging plans over several weeks, that part of the watershed was devastated, now threatening residents' property and fish habitat with torrents of sediment caused by logging on the steep hillsides. Freshwater watershed and nearby Elk River watershed are recognized as being in a stage of meltdown. Upper Freshwater Creek has been called a fisheries laboratory unlike any other in California by university fisheries biologists, with healthy gravel spawning beds in the upper 3 miles of the creek, even though the water quality of the stream itself is severely deteriorated from PL logging. This portion of the watershed was logged by (the old) PL, but decades ago, so the second growth is 60 to 80 years old with 3 to 4 foot diameter trees, with ancient redwoods remaining as well. Said Humboldt state fisheries professor Terry Roelofs, "It is the least managed part of the watershed. It is still relatively intact." That is about to change. Maxxam/PL is revving up their saws and by all appearances, is moving in with large numbers of loggers and helicopters to log about 180 acres on a timber harvest plan ((01-201 Hum) that includes at least 51 acres of clear cuts. Nearly 5 miles of road have already been punched into the area, and this cut is part of a plan to log about 300 acres in upper Freshwater during 2004. While some activists are looking to new empowerment given the Water Quality Control Board to veto timber harvest plans that would cause serious erosion, this particular plan was approved too long ago to come under new guidelines put in place by passage of SB 810, passed in the California Legislature last fall. For that reason and others, administrative remedies appear to be lacking, so forest activists are mobilizing to be on scene to stop or slow logging however they can. ###  << Back to Press Release Archive | Latest Press Release | Newsroom | | 
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