One of our local roadless areas needs some focused help right now. Here's the scoop:

Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI) owns a square of land above Underwood Creek, just east of the South Fork Trinity River, that's completely surrounded by the Underwood Roadless Area in the Six Rivers National Forest. What's more, the Underwood Roadless Area area is proposed for protection as Wilderness in the statewide wilderness bill that Senator Barbara Boxer recently re-introduced.

SPI has an approved timber harvest plan (THP) to cut most of the old-growth and mature forest on its parcel. The company has asked the Six Rivers National Forest for permission to build a road through the roadless area to allow log trucks to haul away the big trees on SPI's parcel. EPIC strongly opposes the proposed road, and we'll all get a chance to comment on that proposal when the Six Rivers releases the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the road project.

But even more important than preventing the road, in this case, is securing the integrity of the roadless area and proposed wilderness. The good news is that conservation-minded potential purchasers are interested in working with SPI to get the parcel in question moved into public ownership. To their credit, SPI's managers have been willing to talk about a buyout, and have agreed to a meeting with potential purchasers.

We need to encourage SPI to do the right thing. Please take the time to write to SPI today.