Eye on Green Diamond: Week 9

Green Diamond has been extremely busy preparing and submitting logging plans in 2010. The timber giant is by far the most frequent logging plan submitter in 2010.  So far in 2010, Green Diamond is responsible for 23 of the 43 plans filed in the North Coast Region. These 23 plans cover a total of 1,935 acres.

While some of this acreage can be accounted for by road construction and no-harvest areas, the vast majority of this logging will be clearcut with some selection near streams and rivers.  These logging operations are planned for a wide range of watersheds from Maple Creek, to Mad River, to Little River,  Redwood Creek and even Lower Klamath River tributaries. Many of these watersheds are currently suffering from impacts resulting from past logging. Furthermore, many of these watersheds show a present concentration of logging activity, such as Maple Creek, and the Headwaters Little River.

The proposed clearcut logging operations will destroy important habitat for Northern Spotted Owls and Pacific Fisher. Sediments, debris, and unstable failures resulting from these primarily clearcut logging operations threaten to choke streams vital the survival and recovery of Coho, Chinook, Steelhead, as well as numerous amphibians.

All these plans reference Green Diamond’s ten year future logging plans. In the case of all these watersheds, significant amounts of clearcutting are proposed for the near future. It is clear that Green Diamond will continue on the course of clearcut, burn, spray, and plant mono culture, repeat. As such, species will continue to be at significant risk of habitat loss on Green Diamond lands.