Pls. comment: SPI proposes giant clearcut in old growth

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Public COMMENTS NEEDED on huge old growth logging plan

Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI), who amassed a gigantic land base from railroad grant lands in the late 1800s, making them the largest private landowner in the nation, and making its chair Red Emmerson one of the richest individuals in the U.S. is planning to log a large chunk of old growth forest on our north coast.

Known for their rapacious practices in the Sierras, SPI now has considerable holdings in Humboldt county, including a parcel on Davis Creek near Petrolia in southern Humboldt, previously (publicly) owned by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) until a land swap in 1983 tranferred the largely unentered virgin old growth forest to SPI's open hands. They in turn filed 14 logging plans (THPs) that to effectively remove all but 4% of the original forest, bringing devastation and as yet unmitigated cumulative impacts to biological and geological resources of this sensitive watershed

A HUGE TIMBER HARVEST PLAN filed by SPI in 2003 (THP 1-03-232 "Windmill") is now under consideration by the Calif. Dept. of Forestry (CDF): 540 ACRES about 5 miles east of Cape Mendocino, on the south fork, Bear River and Davis Creek watershed. SPI laid out a plan to log 29 units in STEEP TERRAIN (most slopes average 50-60%), CLEARCUTTING 273 acres and subjecting 35 acres to shelterwood removal (big trees) and 47 acres to seed tree removal (self explanatory). All this above fish-bearing streams in one of the most seismically active areas in the U.S. (seismic activity on a daily basis) where an average of 100 inches of rain is delivered annually.

Impacts on wildlife associated with late seral (mature, old growth) forests have not been sufficiently addressed-those species include Sonoma tree vole, northern spotted owl, southern torrent salamander, purple martin, mountain beaver, golden eagle and northern flying squirrel. Davis Creek has already been greatly impaired by streamside logging of large trees, but is still a salmon-bearing stream. Every inch of salmon habitat left on California's north coast is immeasurably precious.

The value of old growth must also be measured in conservation values such as providing stability for unstable slopes, and providing refuge habitat for endangered wildlife. It is economically feasible for SPI to exclude ancient trees and inner gorge areas from this logging plan.

You can make these and other points in your comments. Upon request, we can send you the pdf document that is the Dept. of Fish and Game's (DFG) report on the pre-harvest inspection, including their 42 recommendations, should you want a greater level of detail. (Reply with SPI plan info) For photos of the area, go to http://gallery.wildcalifornia.org/THP-1-03-232-Sierra-Pacific-Industries

Public comment deadline is about March 3, depending on the timing of SPI's response to DFG's recommendations. Please write a letter today, with as great a level of detail as you can. Make sure to reference the plan (THP 1-03-232Hum) in your comments.

Send comments to:

California Dept. of Forestry
Attn: Forest Practices Div.
135 Ridgeway Ave.,
Santa Rosa, CA 95401
santarosapubliccomment@fire.ca.gov

You can make these points in your comments:

*The cumulative impacts of the harvest of other late seral forest in the watershed should be taken into consideration and an analysis of those impacts conducted before approval

*In consideration of the number of threatened, endangered and sensitive species dependant on old growth forest habitat and the scant habitat of that type left in the region, no more virgin old growth should be logged.

*273 acres is much too large an area to be subjected to clearcutting, if ever clearcutting should be allowed at all. It will bring devastating impacts to the streams, aquatic habitat, endangered plants, wildlife and soils.

*Clearcutting is an entirely inappropriate method to be used in previously unentered late seral forest stands that include large old growth trees, habitat-rich snags and course woody debris.

*A botanical survey should be conducted to identify and map sensitive plant species, and no timber operations should occur in close proximity to any sensitive plant populations.

*It is the policy of the state of California to "preserve for all future generations representations of all plant and animal communities" (Public Resources Code ?21001(c))

You can also reference the wildlife species mentioned in the alert, above. In addition, there is a species of endangered lichen, Usnea lognissima within the plan area.
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