Winter 1997/98 Wild California

---

McCoy Creek on Trial

An ancient live oak, one of McCoy Creek's many natural wonders, dwarfs a nearby hiker. Photo by David Bergin

McCoy Creek was on trial November 7, as area residents went to court to overturn a controversial Timber Harvest Plan (THP) there. At stake are 105 acres of virgin old-growth forest in Piercy, at the headwaters of McCoy Creek.

The last old growth in the McCoy Creek watershed, this forest was part of a 160-acre parcel of public land administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). In February 1996 BLM sold the property to Doyle Lancaster, who immediately submitted a THP to the California Department of Forestry (CDF) to clearcut the ancient Douglas firs.

Neighbors quickly protested the plan, citing the extremely steep and unstable slopes, numerous slides into the salmon spawning reaches of the creek, Northern spotted owls nesting in the area, and the cumulative impacts from repeated logging in the watershed. Especially troubling to many was a provision to allow oversized clearcut blocks by calling it a "rehabilitation" cut.

Some 300 letters of concern were received by CDF on this plan. Many raised detailed questions and comments. CDF issued a 114-page Official Response to those concerns, saying in sum that they expected "no significant adverse impacts" as they approved the plan.

Many in the public were outraged at what they considered to be a superficial dismissal of serious concerns. Two local environmental organizations, the Piercy Watersheds Association and EPIC, went to court to get a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) to halt the logging. Meanwhile, Earth First! and the McCoy Creek Defenders teamed up to physically blockade the logging road until the court issued the TRO.

Mendocino County Superior Court Judge Conrad Cox issued the restraining order on July 17, two days after the plan was approved. A month later he formalized that order as an injunction which stopped the logging until after trial. He noted then that "petitioners are likely to prevail."

Formal legal arguments were presented in detail by both sides at November's trial. While the legal issues are complex, the gist of the suit is that CDF illegally approved an incomplete and misleading THP, which should be overturned. Judge Cox took the matter under submission, and is expected to issue a final ruling by early February.

---

For the latest on McCoy Creek, see EPIC Update and Action Alert for Febuary 13, 1998