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From Kathy Bailey
Forest Conservation Chair |
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| Bruce Halstead
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service 1125 16th Street, Room 209 Arcata, CA 95521 |
Mr. John Munn
California Dept. of Forestry and Fire Protection 1416 Ninth St., Rm. 1516-4A Sacramento CA |
Re: Comments on Pacific Lumber Company Application for Incidental Take Permit Nos. PRT-828950 and 1157 and Sustained Yield Plan No. 96-002
Gentlemen:I write on behalf of Sierra Club and my comments are in addition to other comments submitted on our behalf. For well over a decade Sierra Club members have been part of the struggle to save Headwaters Forest. We have been involved in virtually every aspect of that effort. In spite of grave reservations about the negotiated purchase agreement for part of the forest, we have worked with the Administration, the wildlife agencies, the California Legislature, and through every available venue to craft a satisfactory solution.
When the Headwaters Forest Agreement was announced in September 1996, there was great concern that the acquisition was tied to approval of a permit for the Pacific Lumber Company to kill endangered species. Even so, we hoped that the proposed Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) and Sustained Yield Plan (SYP) would be sufficiently protective to warrant approval. On behalf of Sierra Club, the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC), and the Pacific Rivers Counsel, a multi-faceted team of technical experts has completed a thorough review of the draft HCP/SYP. Their findings are clear and unambiguous:
Approval of the proposed Pacific Lumber HCP/ SYP would be a disaster for the redwood region.
Unfortunately the terms of the federal appropriation may require approval of the federal permit to kill endangered species and approval of the state logging plan prior to release of the acquisition funding. Although Headwaters Forest should be protected as public land, this price is too high. We are not referring to the hundreds of millions of dollars which the governments have agreed to pay. Rather, if the draft HCP/SYP were to be approved it would likely lead to the extinction of the marbled murrelet which nests in the ancient forests. It would be the death knell for coastal salmon, which depend on clean, clear water. It would contribute to the regional elimination of Northern spotted owls. And it would lock in place for 50 years or more a clearcut logging plan that would eliminate the redwood forest as we know it and many plants and animal species which have evolved to live in that rich, moist, dark, tall, wondrous forest.
It is your responsibility to uphold the law and help conserve the natural world. Approving these plans would do neither. We strongly urge you to deny approval of the Pacific Lumber HCP/ SYP.
Sincerely,
Kathy Bailey
Forest Conservation Chair