ACTION ALERT: Tell the Forest Service to Protect the Eel River Late-Successional Reserve (LSR)
The Six Rivers National Forest is back with another logging proposal in the Eel River Late-Successional Reserve (LSR), and this time it wants to skip full public review. The Bucktail Vegetation Management Project covers a 14,400-acre planning area in the Mad River Ranger District, south of Dinsmore be,tween Highway 36 and Van Duzen Road, next to the Mount Lassic Wilderness. With 90% of old-growth forests lost, these mature forests are the old-growth of tomorrow.
This rugged, landslide-prone country drains to the upper Van Duzen River through creeks like Kuntz and Crooks, and it lies close to the Mad River. The plan calls for 2,330 acres of treatment, including about 950 acres of commercial logging, 1,300 acres of treating small diameter vegetation, 70 acres of oak restoration, and 2.2 miles of new "temporary" road, plus 3.2 miles of existing non-system roads and 180 log landings. Back in 2011, the Forest Service proposed the Buck Mountain project in this same area. That project involved 613 acres of logging, building and rebuilding roads, and cutting in Riparian Reserves and owl nesting habitat, and it got a full Environmental Impact Statement. Bucktail is being fast-tracked as a Categorical Exclusion, with no formal comment period.
The Forest Service calls the stands it wants to log “mid mature”. These trees are 80 to 140 years old and serve as designated critical habitat for the northern spotted owl. The Eel River Late Successional Reserve was set aside to grow and protect exactly this kind of forest. Big old trees are the backbone of these complex ecosystems. The intricate interconnected cycle between soil microbiomes, mycorrhizal webs, lichens, bryophytes, insects, plants, animals and trees helps forests adapt to change and create resilience. These connections are severed by logging.
Mature forests are the best climate defense we have, drawing and holding moisture, filtering the water, purifying the air and helping to maintain the earths’ temperature. Mature forests are the safeguard for hundreds of rare and threatened species. They give Northern Spotted Owls, fishers, and martens places to nest, den, and roost, they store carbon for centuries, and are the trees most likely to survive fire. A dense, multi-layered canopy keeps the forest cool and moist, shelters wildlife, and shields steep, erodible soils and salmon streams from sun, heat, and runoff.
While the project proposes to “thin from below” and maintains some canopy, logging with the subsequent road and landing construction always effects these complex legacy forests. A century of growth should not be traded away under a "fuels reduction" label, and a project this big in an LSR deserves the same hard look it got in 2011.
The Forest Service is asking for input by Friday, October 9, and this may be the only chance to comment. Even one personal sentence about why these forests matter to you makes your comment count.
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