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.

These oversized, mostly ground-based clearcut units pose a threat not only to water quality in the various watersheds, but also threatend to continue the Green Diamond trend of voraciously fragmenting the landscape.  Also these oversized clearcuts act to wipe out larger swaths of actual and potential habitat for species of concern in those watersheds, including Northern Spotted Owls, Pacific Fisher, and others.

Please comment to Cal Fire on these THP’s.  Let Cal Fire kow that clearcutting, and particularly oversized clearcutting is the most potentially damaging logging alternative available to Green Diamond. Tell Cal Fire to enforce the clearcut unit size limitations on all Green Diamond THP’s.

For comments, please email CalFire at santarosapubliccomment@fire.ca.gov.

EPIC and our allies look forward to hosting a public forum in February on the issue and will host a number of activities before the final Environmental Impact Report and Environmental Assessment publication, expected at the beginning of March. Once the final proposal is released, the agency has indicated it will not accept further comment on the plan. Charlie Fielder, Director of District 1 Caltrans, reported to EPIC that planners have made major changes to the original proposal. Last week Humboldt Supervisors Mark Lovelace and Cliff Clendenen attended a private tour of the proposed changes within the grove. These changes have not been made public and local southern Humboldt media coverage shocked even those close to the issue.

Stay tuned! Sign up on EPIC’s Save Richardson Grove Listserv here. You can donate to EPIC’s Richardson Grove campaign here.

We hope you enjoy the billboard.

EPIC wants to offer special thanks to all of the volunteers that made this project possible, including Aliana Knapp-Prasek, Jefferson, Bob Slayton, Bruce Edwards, Barbara Kennedy and local sponsoring businesses who supplied the materials.

After two years of working with EPIC, I am so excited to see the swelling enthusiasm of our small but dedicated team of activists and organizers. EPIC’s work over the years has ebbed and flowed from an epicenter of information based in the heart of the struggle to defend redwood forests in Garberville to sparse offices in Eureka and skeleton staff with board leadership. Our totally redesigned website is a step into a new era for the organization, but we haven’t lost sight of where we came from.

EPIC’s roots go back to a time when the office was located inside a potato chip delivery truck out in Ruby Point and peaked when we had an annual budget exceeding a half of a million dollars a year. The organization now boasts a lean but committed staff and works out of a 500 square foot office just a block off of the plaza in downtown Arcata. Our priorities include monitoring all of the projects across four national forests, protecting the Tolowa Dunes to the north, advocating for public policy across California in Sacramento, working to protect Richardson Grove State Park and remaining old growth redwood groves, and fighting for sustainable forestry.

These days, most of EPIC’s staff works normal business hours, supplemented by evening meetings, fieldtrips to proposed projects, and occasional flights over our vast region. With the foundation built to increase EPIC’s capacity, our near term future will focus on a public outreach campaign to once again provide our community with a clearinghouse of information and resources.

The announcement of our Brews & Views weekly discussion marks the first new event planned to reach out to the North Coast. EPIC staff and community can discuss pressing environmental issues impacting our region each Wednesday from 4 to 6 p.m. at Humbrews in downtown Arcata. We look forward to gradually increasing our constituency and gaining valuable insight for our program work.

We realize that the function of our globally connected ecosystems face immediate threats of unpredictable degradation. Our region could provide a globally significant reserve for carbon and refuge of biodiversity if we can defend our water, forests and air in Northern California.

EPIC staffers including myself, Scott Greacen, David Lawlor and Natalynne Delapp will contribute to the blog regularly and include timely information to engage the EPIC community. If you like the new website and the organization’s exciting plans for 2010, please consider making a donation to help us protect our unique bioregion and keep Northern California wild.

Thanks for visiting!

Kerul Dyer, Outreach Director