The number given to the logging plan by the California Department of Forestry (CDF) is 1-05-097 HUM, and PL's pet name for it is "Bonanza."

"Bonanza: noun [often with adj.], a situation or event that creates a sudden increase in wealth, good fortune, or profits, a large amount of something desirable."

Nanning Creek is located in Humboldt County, California. The Timber Harvest Plan (THP) is one mile east of the company town of Scotia. The Nanning Creek watershed flows into the Eel River, an important salmon-bearing river.

The THP is 250 acres in total.

Prescription:
Shelterwood Preparatory Step, which is something between a clearcut and selection, cutting about 70% of the trees.

Forest type:
Mostly old-growth redwood and Douglas fir with a little bit of Sitka Spruce.

Geology:
Very steep and unstable slopes. There are many landslides on the road adjacent to the THP, some of which are large and active.

Critters:
About 200 acres-or 80% of the THP area-is used by the murrelets for nesting, and 122 acres of "class E" (occupied) murrelet habitat is proposed for logging. http://www.indybay.org/news/2005/07/1750546.php
The THP also harbors habitat and breeding areas for the pacific fisher, California red tree vole, Osprey, Coopers hawk, Purple martin, Bald eagle, Northern spotted owl, Vaux's swift, Red-legged frog, Tailed frog, Foothill yellow-legged frog, cutthroat and steelhead trout. These are all species with various levels of sensitivity, for many of which PL has obtained a permit to kill.

THP Status:
The THP was approved by the CDF on September 13, 2005, three days before the end of murrelet breeding season.

September 20, 2005 - The USFWS approved the murrelet stands to be logged and reissued their biological opinion of PL's HCP. http://www.fws.gov/cno/arcata/ http://www.wildcalifornia.org/pressreleases/number-68
September 27, 2005 - Logging began illegally without proper permits from the North Coast Water Quality Control Board. Logging was stopped by legal intervention and the Water Quality staff. http://www.indybay.org/news/2005/09/1771778.php
November 11, 2005 - Logging begins again and continues slowly, but unabated.


What is a Marbled Murrelet...
The Marbled Murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus) is a small, dove-size seabird that nests in redwoods and other old-growth trees along the California/Oregon/Washington coast. Nesting occurs between late March and September in forests usually within 25 (but up to 65) miles of the ocean. Only one egg is laid and the male and female take turns incubating the egg, exchanging duties before sunrise or after sunset. Unlike many other birds, the chick's first flight is directly to the ocean feeding grounds, often a 25-mile trip. Marbled murrelets have strong site fidelity which means they return to the same sites (and sometimes to the same tree) year after year to breed. When a nesting area is eliminated, birds may not search for new nest sites. Murrelets are considered one of the most vulnerable of all seabirds to impacts of oil spills because they feed close to shore.

...and why are they important?
The marbled murrelet was listed as threatened in Oregon, Washington and California by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in 1992. The State of California has listed it as endangered.

The marbled murrelet is on the fast track to extinction due to low reproductive success, increased predation, oil spills, and habitat loss. The most significant threat to the survival of the marbled murrelet is the loss of older forests and the associated nest sites, such as the old-growth forest of Pacific Lumber's "Bonanza" logging plan. Also, in 2004, California had the lowest nest success rate on the west coast and the local murrelets have suffered two oil spills in the last decade.

According to Kieran Suckling, policy director of the Center for Biological Diversity in Tucson, Arizona, "The murrelet is the absolute best indicator we have of the health of old-growth forests. If it's allowed to go extinct, you can just wave bye-bye to the ancient forests of the Pacific Northwest."

Bad News For Murrelets
A 2004 report commissioned by the USFWS stated that under the current logging practices in Northern California, the marbled murrelet faces an 80% probability of extinction in the next 60 years, and a 100% probability of extinction in the next 100 years.

With 192 acres of contiguous occupied murrelet habitat, the Bonanza THP is one of the last, large nesting areas available for logging by Maxxam/Pacific Lumber. http://www.wildcalifornia.org/PacificLumber/

Despite the USFWS's own documentation of the murrelet's decline and predictions of impending extinction in northern California, the agency continues to allow the logging of hundreds of acres of habitat through PL's HCP each year. This contradictory action is one symptom of the division between science (at the bottom) and politics (at the top) within the agency. It is also an example of the strength of the Habitat Conservation Plan, which agency employees can only question at risk of losing their job, even if their own studies show some HCPs are driving species closer to extinction.

Since the federal government listed the murrelet, the largest single area (71%) of murrelet habitat loss has been on private ownerships covered by HCPs, like Pacific Lumber's.

"Although the rate of habitat loss has slowed since listing in 1992, the amount of old-growth forest suitable for breeding habitat, and number of occupied sites have declined through out the breeding range, increasing the most evident threat to murrelet population viability." (USFWS status review, emphasis added)

MAXXAM and Murrelets
As of 2003, 10% of suitable habitat has been lost since listing in 1992, of that lost habitat 80% occurred on private lands, like Pacific Lumber's.

Habitat Conservation Plans were conceived in order to make a compromise between the needs of endangered species and the economic "needs" of the industry.
http://www.wildcalifornia.org/pages/page-137
This compromise is usually executed by the agencies in protecting enough of the species habitat to keep the species from going extinct, and sacrificing the rest to the maw of the industry. http://www.wildcalifornia.org/activist_resources/hcp_facts.html

The contiguous old-growth forest in this harvest plan is called the Nanning Creek Murrelet Complex; during the creation of the HCP the murrelet complexes were given a rating from lowest to highest quality to the murrelets. The Nanning Complex was rated the highest quality.

The Nanning Complex is one of the old-growth groves sacrificed to PL in exchange for the Headwaters grove and a Hurwitz-tailored HCP under the Headwaters Deal. http://www.wildcalifornia.org/pages/page-18
As of November 29, 2005, 914.9 acres (52%) of the E stands have been released by USFWS to be logged, leaving 836.6 acres (48%) remaining.

"Logging of this THP has the very real probability of causing harm to the murrelet, a harm which has not been adequately disclosed, evaluated or mitigated as required by law...Clearly habitat loss due to commercial logging of old-growth murrelet habitat was one of the principle reasons for listing of the murrelet in the first place While the rate of habitat loss may have lessened some, it continues as California has lost significant amounts of suitable habitat dues to the removal of old-growth forest, and particularly in areas where service consultations operate, such as the Pacific Lumber HCP/ITP." --EPIC comment letter

De-Listing Efforts
In 1992, the marbled murrelet was listed by the USFWS as threatened in Oregon, Washington and California. The state of California has listed it as endangered under the California Endangered Species Act.

Since the murrelet is listed as threatened by the federal government, a lot of logging is precluded from some of the best remaining old-growth timber in the hands of private industrial timber corporations like MAXXAM/PL and on public lands such as the National Forests and BLM lands. The timber industry is constantly trying to erode protections for old-growth-dependent species and the Bush Administration is, unfortunately, willing to accommodate their efforts.

The Bush Administration is actively seeking to remove the marbled murrelet from the threatened list using a controversial and spurious argument that flies in the face of accepted scientific convention.

Pacific Region biologists have traditionally viewed the murrelet populations of California, Oregon and Washington as separate from those in Alaska and British Columbia, based on geographical isolation and biological distinctions. A 2004 report commissioned by the USFWS stated that under the current logging practices in Northern California, the marbled murrelet faces an 80% probability of extinction in the next 60 years, and a 100% probability of extinction in the next 100 years.

In spite of this evidence, in the fall of 2004, agency officials in Washington, D.C. decided to overrule this scientific judgment and consider the Canadian and Alaskan populations as part of the tri-state marbled murrelets, thus using combined numbers to deny that marbled murrelets are threatened with extinction. USFWS is working on eliminating the "distinct population segment" status for other endangered species as well. Altering the listing criteria--a process which has been established by scientific review and consensus, and is being revoked by those with solely political motivations--would dramatically reduce our efforts to protect habitat for wildlife that are at serious risk of extinction. http://www.wildcalifornia.org/pressreleases/number-58
http://www.wildcalifornia.org/pressreleases/number-68

"Although the rate of habitat loss has slowed since listing in 1992, the amount of old-growth forest suitable for breeding habitat, and number of occupied sites have declined through out the breeding range, increasing the most evident threat to murrelet population viability."
-USFWS status review

EPIC's Legal Actions
EPIC submitted two comment letters to the Department of Forestry regarding the Bonanza THP. http://www.wildcalifornia.org/cgi-files/0/pdfs/1125096947_Bonanza_THP_Comments.pdf

In January 2004, EPIC and the Western Environmental Law Center sued the USFWS over MAXXAM/PL's federal HCP after successfully challenging the State HCP in 2003. http://www.wildcalifornia.org/pages/page-236

Through this Federal HCP lawsuit, EPIC attempted to obtain a preliminary injunction to stop the logging of the Bonanza THP. The courts denied EPIC's position and found in favor of the USFWS and Pacific Lumber, allowing the logging of murrelet habitat. Logging began in "Bonanza" the next day.

Our SYP case (no. CV990445), in which we had prevailed with our complaints against PL's state issued ITP, HCP, and SYP (sustained yield plan) was unexpectedly reversed by the California Superior Court in December 2005.
http://www.wildcalifornia.org/projects/headwatersforest

EPIC has petitioned the state for permission to appeal to the California Supreme Court and is awaiting response.

Meanwhile MAXXAM/PL continues to log the occupied murrelet habitat in the Bonanza THP.