This photo is of Bridge Creek, downstream from the proposed Railcar THP. Photo: Noel Soucy

In a slick move to liquidate Redwoods along the South Fork of the Eel River, Pacific Lumber's Scotia Pacific is moving quickly to get approval for a Timber Harvest Plan (THP) immediately adjacent to Humboldt Redwoods State Park. The Railcar THP 1-08-008 Hum would liquidate forests along the park border, just above the Avenue of the Giants. This area, encompassing the middle portion of the Bridge Creek watershed, has been proposed as a park addition in the proposal that the Save the Redwoods and Nature Conservancy have put forward to resolve the Pacific Lumber bankruptcy.

This forest provides important wildlife habitat, carbon-sequestering conifer trees and clean water. Clear-cutting these trees is likely to harm the park and South Fork Eel River below. If CalFIRE approves the Railcar THP, eight units of prime forestlands will be cut, creating another tear in the fraying redwood curtain.

After two decades of logging ancient redwoods and shipping the profits to Texas, the owners of Pacific Lumber are now trying to cut as much ancient forest as possible before they lose control of the company. In the last hours of their bankruptcy, PL has submitted six THP's that include logging Late Seral Forest. In the legacy of Judi Bari, David Gypsy Chain, Joan Norman and countless others who have dedicated their lives to protect these threatened forests, we must act now!

The red lines outline approximate unit boundaries neighboring Humboldt Redwoods State Park. Photo: Noel Soucy, Kerul Dyer, GoogleEarth

If we allow Railcar to be logged, the cumulative impact will be disastrous. Because Railcar's units remove most of the forest that was left by a past THP ("Bridge 02"), the net result would leave more than half of Pacific Company lands in Bridge Creek in recent clearcuts. This is far over thresholds for maintaining watershed function for threatened fish and wildlife.

Please help protect our state park and redwood forests: call or write to CalFIRE to let them know that you are concerned about this THP, and that there has not been enough time to clearly articulate your perspectives on this issue.

Check back here for more updates or contact Noel Soucy, our THP monitor at our Arcata office: (707)822.7711. You may also write noel(at)wildcalifornia.org, more detailed information.