The Bay Area Forest Activist Newsletter, Summer 2003

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Mattole Old Growth

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August 15, 2003


Hello again from the Mattole! The Mattole Restoration Council's (MRC) Forest Practices Program keeps a watch on the forests and forest issues in the Mattole River watershed. We are particularly concerned with the conservation of the remaining old growth in the Mattole, as it provides cool water for salmonids, and holds steep slopes together. To encourage good forestry practices we review and provide comment on Timber Harvest Plans (THPs) in the Mattole watershed. We attend review meetings at the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF) and are regularly in contact with the state agencies responsible for upholding the public trust. We would like to provide support for small timber owners in their efforts to harvest sustainably.
The program's focus is primarily on THPs proposed by the major timber companies. In the Mattole there are four companies: Pacific Lumber Company (PL), Barnum Timber Company, Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI), and Eel River Sawmills (ERS). Eel River Sawmills has sold all but one of its holdings in the Mattole. On this remaining holding, ERS has just proposed a new THP. This THP is in the McGinnis Creek drainage near Petrolia. Pacific Lumber Company (PL) has been actively proposing THPs across their Mattole holdings which all lie in the northern half of the watershed. The other companies have not been active in the last few years.
Currently there are 5 THPs in the Mattole, 4 on PL land in the Rainbow Ridge area and the ERS plan on McGinnis. All of the plans include old growth. There can be remaining trees left after harvest, but the integrity of the forest has been and will be further tainted like a beautiful tapestry shot through with moth holes. In the Rainbow Ridge area of the Mattole (owned by PL), what was once the largest coastal old-growth Douglas-fir forest in the state of California has been further fragmented. Two of the PL plans together propose new road construction. Construction of roads is one of the worst impacts across the landscape as they can lead to massive erosion and hillside disintegration.
One of these plans are still open for public comment. All of them impact the native wildlife in serious proportions. PL will use herbicides post-harvest. MRC will continue to seek protection for these forests in cooperation with interested parties.
-- Ali Freedlund, MRC
If you want to write a comment letter or just be kept better informed of the Forest Practices Review Program, please call either Brook or Ali at the office in Petrolia, (707) 629-3514. We will put you on our mailing list.



Other Articles in This Issue

• The Humboldt-Houston Connection Made Real: Activists bring their message to MAXXAM and its CEO Charles Hurwitz at the corporate headquarters in Houston
  "We're sick of watching the liquidation of our last remaining ancient redwoods in California. We think the best place to...
  
  
• The Season in Review
  It has been a very busy year. We salute the dedicated, brave and very persistent activists who have sat in trees, writte...
  
  
• Flaws In The Headwaters Deal Finally See The Light Of Day
  On July 22, a Humboldt County Superior Court judge formally declared plaintiffs Environmental Protection Information Cen...
  
  
• Acronyms
  SYP Sustained Yield Plan ITP Incidental Take Permit THP Timber Harvest Plan HCP Habitat Conservation Plan MSP Maximu...
  
  
• DA Throws Down The Gauntlet To Pacific Lumber
  In a heroic move, Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos surprised residents last February by filing a lawsuit ...
  
  
• Maxxam Corporate Update
  If a tree falls in the forest, would Wall Street hear it? How about if the tree is occupied by a tree-sitter? Will Wal...
  
  
• Who are the Real Eco-Terrorists? Mill Closure And Job Loss: After The Boom, Who Sweeps Up The Rubble?
  As reported in our last newsletter, Maxxam/PL closed its flagship mill operation in the company town of Scotia, laying o...
  
  
• The Forests Find Some Champions In The California Legislature
  For the first time in more than a decade, a package of timber reform bills that would give an urgently needed overhaul t...
  
  
• Demonstrating What? Legal Victory Brings Relief for Jackson Demonstration Forest -- For Now
  Founded in 1947, the 50,000-acre Jackson State Demonstration Forest is the largest of eight forests in California's stat...
  
  
• GE TREES--THE NEW CHAIN SAW MASSACRE
  Monoculture tree plantations are already threatening enough to biological diversity, but things could get worse. Geneti...
  
  
• Wildfire Bill Goes From Bad To Worse HR 1904 Expands Logging
  The Senate Agriculture Committee made a bad wildfire bill even worse in April by further gutting environmental protectio...
  
  
• Enough Wilderness
  On the eve of the release of the final management plan for the publicly-owned Headwaters Preserve, the Bush administrati...
  
  
• Crisis for the Sequoias
  The magnificent red-barked Giant Sequoias of the Sierra Nevada range, relatives to the coast redwood, are among the larg...
  
  
• Activist Resource Directory
  Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters 2530 San Pablo, Berkeley (510) 548-3113; Hotline (510) 835-6303; bach@igc.org; for t...