Maxxam has attempted to blur public understanding of the extent of logging currently taking place, but despite their assertions to the contrary, logging continues at breakneck speeds at their hand. Thousands of acres were approved for the company to log in the last year, including many hundreds of acres of remnant ancient and residual old growth forests. These are the forgotten forests ignored and written off by politicians, the government and the media, and are included in the 200,000 acres of land which would continue to suffer from the liquidated logging slated by Maxxam's Habitat "Conversion" Plan if it goes unchallenged.
The company claims environmental regulations have caused them to slow logging and recently issued pink slips to nearly 100 employees. Pushing to obtain a license to kill endangered species through an HCP did hamper their ability to complete logging plans at the pace established since Maxxam took over Pacific Lumber, but this was only temporary relief for the forests that is no longer occurring. Even at this slowed pace, nearly 4,500 acres were approved for them to log in the last year and 3,000 additional acres are currently pending approval by the California Department of Forestry (CDF). If the HCP goes unchallenged, the rate of logging in the next two decades will be similar to that which has occurred at the hand of Maxxam, which is nearly double this amount.
A CDF Forester once stated, "there is admittedly an increased level of harvesting in this ownership as a result of a change in ownership and management goals; these goals may not be appropriate in degraded watersheds such as (Bear Creek).This project proposes some offsetting mitigations, but in terms of new road construction (without a demonstrable watershed wide plan) and use of readily available and less expensive harvest systems, it is simply 'business as usual.' This approach is no longer appropriate in this and similar watersheds. A dramatic reduction in the level of harvesting in degraded watersheds should be considered by the Landowner as well as reviewing agencies" (November, 1997, CDF Report on THP 1-97-463).
The land surrounding Grizzly Creek State Park is one of many that suffers from Maxxam and is a clear example of the deficiencies with the HCP. The California Legislature added $20 million dollars to purchase land near Grizzly Creek State Park as part of the bill to fund the Headwaters Deal, yet more than 1,000 acres surrounding the Park, including the area which David Gypsy Chain tragically died defending, are now targeted by Maxxam/Pacific Lumber and remain unprotected under the Deal.
The most recent logging plan approved in Grizzly Creek is demonstrative of how logging would occur under the HCP. This plan, THP 1-97-519, totals 243 acres and contains approximately 300 old growth redwood trees. It will log very close to two streams that contain critical coho salmon spawning habitat and only 300 feet or less than where marbled murrelets are known to nest, and there is a northern spotted owl nest in the very center of the logging plan. This watershed is one of the steepest and most unstable areas found on the generally steep and unstable North Coast, and veteran Park officials have documented serious damage resulting from the intensive logging that has occurred there in the last decade. In a letter written by a Department of Parks and Recreation employee to CDF regarding 1-97-519, it states:
"Since accelerated timber harvesting started around Grizzly Creek State Park in the 1980s we have observed clear and obvious aggradation of both Grizzly Creek and the Van Duzen River. Our most popular swimming hole, just below the confluence of Grizzly Creek and the Van Duzen River, existed for decades prior to this timber harvesting. Now it is gone, filled in with sediment from logged slopes and roads, along with many other pools that used to exist in the two watercourses. As the creek and river widens we have lost trees which existed along the banks for 500 to 1000 years..."
The politicians, media, government and Maxxam may have written off areas such as Grizzly Creek, the Mattole River, Yager Creek, and so many others, but we know and understand their critical importance to maintaining and recovering healthy ecosystems. For the northern goshawks, pileated woodpeckers, northwestern pond turtles, humboldt martens, and other fish and wildlife, EPIC will continue to seek protection for these forgotten forests and for all life they contain.
