Stanley Creek in 1979, note people in the middle of the photo.

By Scott Greacen, for Forest & River News

A decade into the 21st century, the US Forest Service is only beginning to face the challenges that nearly overwhelmed it in the 20th. The tension between competing desires to exploit western forests for immediate gain or to protect them to provide for long-term sustainability first drove Teddy Roosevelt to create the National Forest system to secure both forests and key sources of clean, abundant water. But following World War II, the National Forests became the focus of an enormous logging and road-building boom. By the 1970s, the timber extraction boom had begun to create busts for wildlife and water, with salmon populations crashing and serious questions being raised about the long-term viability and desirability of plantation forestry on the public landscape. The reforms that followed, including laws like the National Forest Management Act (NFMA), sought to mitigate but not to challenge the fundamental premise of “multiple-use” management–that the public forests could continue to support functional, productive ecosystems, endless recreational opportunities, and a timber program that would, not incidentally, pay to build and maintain a road network ten times larger than the interstate highway system.

Today, Northwest California’s four National Forests offer a particularly compelling case study of both the risks of continuing down the path of least resistance–of trying to pretend that we can have our cake and eat it too–as well as the potential rewards of setting a new course for the Forest Service, one that focuses on the restoration and protection of ecosystems for the critical services they provide, including clean water, biodiversity, and climate stability.The Obama administration has a critical opportunity on this front to take actions today that could set us collectively on a better course, and so save a great deal of pain in the future. Unfortunately, there is little evidence that the new administration is paying much attention to the National Forest system as such. Today’s opportunities could too easily become tomorrow’s regrets.

Most Americans believe that our National Forests are “protected,” in the vague sense that they are “the green areas on the map.” It’s certainly true that the Forest Service must meet higher standards in managing the National Forests than, for example, industrial logging corporations have to meet in deciding when and how to log on private lands. (more…)

EPIC's Public Forum on Richardson Grove, February 24.

Who could have thought it so controversial for a non-profit, environmental advocacy organization to work to protect an old growth redwood grove from the machines of progress, within a State park?

Over the last several years, EPIC staff and volunteers have pored over documents and kept a watchful eye on the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) in an effort to protect Richardson Grove State Park from a proposal to construct a larger highway through the famed gateway into Humboldt County from the south. The project’s stated purpose is to provide access for federally standardized commercial trucks (STAA) into the region (This is a truncated purpose. To find out more, please download the Caltrans draft EIR).

Did you know that if EPIC and our allies had not forced Caltrans to follow the law and analyze the impacts of their proposed construction, the project would likely have already been built, without environmental analysis or public input? (more…)

EPIC is on the hunt for a larger but affordable office in Arcata.  Our organization is growing and we need an office with four or more workspaces, a meeting room, and secure bike parking. Dog-friendly and a kitchen would be great too.

If you know of a space that would fit our needs, or someone who would be willing to provide discounted rent to an environmentally responsible non-profit, please contact us at 822-7711 or epic@wildcalifornia.org.

Among the trends being borne out in Green Diamond’s 2010 Timber Harvest Plans so far, the use of the over sized clearcuts proves most glaring.  So far in 2010, Green Diamond has filed five THP’s containing seven oversized clearcut units.  The Forest Practice Rules restrict the size of clearcuts to 20 acres for ground-based yarding, and 30 acres for cable or other yarding system.  Green Diamond may however propose over-sized units if justified in the plan and approved by Cal Fire during  THP Review.

THP 1-10-001 in Maple Creek proposes Unit B as an oversized clearcut of 23 acres ground-based yarding.  This plan was approved on 3/26/2010 by CalFire with the oversized unit included as proposed.

THP 1-10-011 in the Headwaters of Little River proposes two oversized clearcut units.  Unit A proposes 22 acres of ground-based clearcut, while Unit D proposes 21 acres of ground-based clearcut.  Green Diamond justifies these oversized units by potentially utilizing the option of shovel yarding.  However, shovel yarding is still classified as a ground-based yarding operation in the rules, thus these units are oversized.  This plan is currently open for public comment.

THP 1-10-014 in the Headwaters of Little River proposes Unit B as a 33-acre ground-based yarding clearcut.  This giant ground-based clearcut unit constitutes over a third of the 88 total clearcut acres proposed in this plan.  This plan is still open to public comment.

THP 1-10-016 sits on Berry Ridge above the Mad River.  This plan contains two oversized clearcut units.  Unit A is a 22.5 acre tractor yarded clearcut.  Unit C is a 28 acre tractor yarded clearcut.  These units comprise 50 of the 59 total clearcut acres under this plan.  This plan is still open to public comment.

THP 1-10-017 in Maple Creek proposes Unit  C as  a 31.5 acre oversized clearcut to be yarded either by cable or shovel.  In either case, the unit is oversized.  This unit comprises more than a third of the total 77.7 acres of clearcutting proposed in this plan.  This plan is still open to public comment.  (more…)

Save the Date– April 17 at Richardson Grove

On Saturday April 17, from 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. the Save Richardson Grove Coalition will be sponsoring a free event that is open to the public.  Activities will include a Park clean-up, potluck lunch, music and guest speakers.  The Clean-up will entail picking up trash at campsites and along trails.  Garbage bags will be provided. Signs will guide participants to the picnic area where the clean-up will start.   Attendees are encouraged to carpool and bring work gloves and a dish to share along with their own plate, knife, fork, spoon and mug.

Music and speakers will focus on environmental issues, particularly on the CALTRANS project to widen Highway 101 through Richardson Grove State Park.  Speakers will include members of the InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council, members of the Save Richardson Grove Coalition and others.  Musicians providing acoustic instruments are welcome.  Come show your support for the campaign, reccelebrate springtime by attending this Earth Day event!
Schedule of Event:

10:00 – 1:00 Clean-up
1:00 – 3:00 Potluck Lunch
3:00 – 5:00 Music and Guest Speakers

Summer fog has decreased along the California coast over the last century, threatening redwood forests and their dependent species, reports a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The paper’s authors, UC Berkeley scientists Todd Dawson and James Johnstone, say the mighty trees and the species that live in and beneath them depend on the cool, damp microclimate provided by the ubiquitous fog.

Dawson told the San Francisco Chronicle, “The redwoods along our coast are highly dependent on fog as a source of water during the summer when water in the ground is scarce. Foggy nights are needed to rehydrate the trees that can’t tolerate long droughts.” Even if established trees can tolerate the increased drought stress, the authors say, fewer young trees will be able to grow to maturity in the same areas where redwoods stand today.

Redwoods’ inability to regulate their water use as closely as other tree species is thought by scientists to be the key reason the enormous conifers are restricted to the cool, moist coastal belt that extends from the central California coast to just north of the Oregon border.

The study of summer fog decline is the latest to suggest that changes in the global and regional climate threaten the viability of familiar ecosystems. But it is among the first to point to specific climate-related concerns for the redwood forest.

Because redwoods are such long-lived organisms, and old growth redwood forests create their own microclimates, the news of their vulnerability may surprise the casual visitor. Advocates for redwood forest conservation have long argued that one of the key flaws in clearcut-based plantation forestry for redwoods is that it reduces the productivity of the overall forest by creating monocultures more vulnerable to drought and heat stress.

The Berkeley study notes several kinds of evidence of the close association between the coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) and summer marine fog, including biogeography, physiology, and paleoecology. It concludes that the frequency of coastal summer fog is an indicator that reflects key aspects of the coastal climate, including both the wind-driven upwelling system of the California Current and the broad ocean temperature pattern known as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation.

The study used the records of fog levels kept at local airports since 1951, including McKinleyville, then analyzed those data together with temperature records from 114 stations that go back to the beginning of the 20^th century. The analysis showed that in the early part of the 20^th century the California coast had about 30 percent more summer fog than has recently been the case. The foggiest year on record was 1951, with 62 percent of summer days seeing fog, while the least foggy was 1997, with only 27 percent fog through the summer.

By Scott Greacen

A new Assembly Bill introduced by Wes Chesbro (D-Arcata) would help to create a framework for evaluating cumulative effects caused by industrial logging operations on privately owned timberlands. The bill focuses on pilot projects that would map out how to do watershed scale planning. Chesbro is the new Chair of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee (replacing Skinner).

AB 2575 “Comprehensive Forest Land Recovery and Restoration Act,” could ultimately improve evaluation of cumulative effects by requiring CalFire (California Department of Forestry), through pilot projects adopted under new CalFire regulations. According to bill proponents, the projects would: incorporate credible experts and representatives of industry, landowners, agencies, and the public; arrive at a process and produce guidelines; and ensure that California’s private and state forestland health — including vital economic, environmental, and social aspects — are recovered and restored for the long-term.

Chesboro’s Bill would also require CalFire to electronically publish timber harvest plans on a watershed basis, which would facilitate effective public involvement in evaluating and responing to cumulative effects of multiple logging operations in a watershed over time.  According to Chesboro’s AB 2575 Fact Sheet, “this is a process that has been sorely lacking, and that the normal California forest practice regulatory system has been unable to adequately come to grips with and achieve.”

Goals of AB 2575 are to: restore fisheries and wildlife habitat; reduce the risk of wildfire, recover forest characteristics, which will produce high-quality timber; reduce sedimentation and soil loss; achieve optimum carbon sequestration; and restore and recover unique attributes of a given planning watershed.

Assemblymember Chesbro is also the new Chair of the Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture (replacing Wiggins).

This map shows the 10yr logging history on Green Diamond lands in the Maple Creek and Little River areas near Trinidad. This pattern is repeated in watersheds all across the Green Diamond landscape.

For over 15 years Green Diamond Resource Company (and formerly Simpson Timber Company) have been intensively clearcutting in the Little River Watershed.  That trend is continuing into 2010.  This year, the focus of Green Diamond’s logging operations in the Little River Watershed appears to be squared in the Headwaters.

There are currently three more logging operations filed for the Headwaters Little River Planning Watershed. Three Timber Harvest Plans (1-10-011, 1-10-014, & 1-10-015) will combine to operate on 380 acres in the Headwaters Little River Planning Watershed, which totals 8,988 acres in size. Of this, a total of 291 acres combine will be clearcut. The rest is selection near watercourses, road construction, and small habitat retention areas.

Clearcutting has been the prefered method of logging in the Little River Watershed over the last 10 years. Within the 27,703 acre Little River Watershed, of which Green Diamond owns 26,041 acres, approximately 2,015.5 acres have been clearcut over the last ten years. This does not include any other type of logging that has been conducted in the last 10 years. A view of the ten-year cumulative impacts analysis map reveals a patchwork of clearcuts dominating the landscape. (more…)

EPIC would like to thank everyone who attended the Pisces Party fundraising event last weekend at Beginnings in Briceland.  A huge thank you goes out to the following businesses and individuals who contributed to a successful event: Del McCain, Ken Jorgenson and the Falling Rocks, Sue’s Organics, Sylvia De Rooy, Nat Pennington, Frey, Tasha McKee, Green Living Center, Baroni Designs, Arcata Outdoor Store, Bubbles, Mad River Nursery, Garden Gate, Caravan of Dreams, Zendik artists, Humboldt Glass Blowers, Gold Rush Coffee, Mateel Café, Moonstone Crossing, Chis Turner, Shop Smart Redway, Rays Garberville, Chautauqua, Frey Vineyards, Redway Liquors, and everyone who attended.

As a non-profit organization we rely on contributions from within the community to make our work possible and we couldn’t do it without your much appreciated help. Thank you all again!

Sincerely,

EPIC staff

Please take a moment to comment on the Off Road routes in Six Rivers National Forest. The Forest Service must manage public lands in an ecologically sustainable manner that protects soil and water resources, streams, stream banks, shorelines, wetlands, fish and wildlife, and the diversity of plant and animal communities.  The Travel Management Rule of 2005 mandates all National Forests to A.) Determine the minimum road system needed and to “right size” the road system in order to keep only the roads that they can afford to maintain and B.)  Designate roads, trails and areas that are open to motor vehicle use, which would be added to the National Forest Transportation System.
The Six Rivers and Klamath National Forests have recently released their plans for adding and designating OHV routes in our watersheds. (more…)