December 8, 2004
October brought several good early storms that raised water flows enough to ease stress on juvenile steelhead and salmon in their stream and river habitat. Flows had become discontinuous in many areas. Hopefully storms will start arriving regularly to raise flows to successful levels for spawning in November and December.
It's good to see more and more large water-holding facilities being built by watershed residents both for fire protection and to provide for human water needs during the late summer and early fall. Using stored water (mainly for irrigation) prevents too much drawing down of streams that have critical habitat for salmon and steelhead.
It seemed that most local watershed restoration projects didn't start this year until mid-September, mostly due to permit snafus (meaning that the various agencies were behind in issuing permits for their many projects). Restorationists are complaining that the yearly "window" for work has become smaller than the "window" for logging operations.
The hazards of late project starts was especially evident this year at plate arch construction sites at Gibson and Stanley Creeks--tributaries to the Mattole River upstream of Whitethorn. These Department of Fish & Game (DF&G)--funded County projects to correct fish passage problems didn't start until well into September and are still not finished. DF&G forced an upgrade of inadequate mitigations on the sites after adverse impacts triggered by rains. Somebody "unclear on the concept" even placed soil rather than rock and gravel in the channel of Gibson Creek between the concrete footings to give a small crane a surface to run on for placing sections of the arch. That soil is now needlessly degrading the spawning and rearing habitat of the Mattole. Supposedly lessons are being learned that will prevent future problems.
The prevailing wage/volunteer issue was solved when Governator Schwarzenegger signed AB 2609. This was in response to a Department of Industrial Relations ruling that all workers on projects funded in any part by State money must receive prevailing wages--even volunteers. Another aspect to the issue--amnesty for back wages for those unwittingly directed or encouraged by various agencies to pay less than a prevailing wage--was unable to be solved. Assembly Member Berg and Senator Chesbro with help from Congressman Mike Thompson made a last-minute attempt to resolve the issue, but some intransigent Sacramento labor lobbyists threw unwarranted fits and blocked reasonable and necessary measures. There is a lot of concern over the future of effective efforts for watershed and fisheries restoration. An anxiety-inducing example is the Department of Fish & Game's shut-down of citizen hatchbox programs, affecting both the Mattole and South Fork Eel programs. Both of these local programs have been very successful in helping to keep runs of Chinook salmon above survival levels.
The Fish and Game Commission finally voted in early August to list Coho salmon as Endangered between San Francisco Bay and Punta Gorda (south of the mouth of the Mattole River), and Threatened from Punta Gorda to the Oregon border. Of course they have yet to put rules in place to begin making the listing effective, and implementation of key elements of the Coho Recovery Strategy is, should we say, lagging. DF&G staff indicate they are hard at work on preparing implementation of recovery measures, but it seems that they are leaving many initiatives up to other agencies, like the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF)--hmmmm, bad choice.
The long awaited public field trips to the Canoe Fire that burned in the South Fork Eel/Salmon Creek/Canoe Creek/Bull Creek area in September and October 2003 finally took place in September '04. The Department of Parks and Recreation (DP&R) stressed the positive impacts to the old-growth forest affected, while adjacent landowners and others stressed the adverse effects on DP&R's and landowners' cutover lands. Ostensibly procedures are underway to reduce adverse fire risks by acting ahead of time to set up defensible spaces and strategies. Fire Safe Councils continue to form and are active from neighborhood to state levels.
AB 2420, a bill to reduce fuel hazards, was signed into law this year. The Board of Forestry (BoF) extended their own Emergency Fuel Hazard Reduction rule package through the end of February 2005, and also just passed emergency rules implementing AB 2420. There are controversial discrepancies between the two measures that are supposed to be resolved in the coming months. One issue is maximum diameter of the trees that may be removed--18", 24" or 30". Other questions include the concerns for monitoring, any necessary adjustments to prevent abuse, and what financial incentives are reasonable to ensure adequate implementation. The BoF measure focuses on the "wildland interface" with human homes, infrastructure, and firebreak ridges. AB 2420 measures extend out into the forest.
The Old Growth/Heritage Tree disclosure rules package continues in the BoF's Forest Practice Committee. Committee Chair Dr. Susan Britting is working off an outline of issues and recommendations. Of course, even though some proposed actions will improve the situation, they do not go far enough. The July 2003 Petition has kept the issue in front of the industry month after month for a year and a half now.
The Heritage Tree Bill, SB 754, almost passed the Assembly at the end of the session in August. It previously passed the Senate. Meetings are anticipated before the new year to determine content and strategy for the legislation in 2005.
The BoF's flawed Road Management Plan (RMP) rule package was sent back to committee. A letter critical of the package from EPIC attorney Sharon Duggan, other public comments, and 26 recommended changes by CDF forced a slowdown which we hope will lead to an RMP with adequate procedures and standards.
Humboldt Watershed Council under the leadership of Mark Lovelace conducted a workshop on the BoF's flawed Sensitive Watershed process and presented a set of recommended changes to the BoF in October. This process currently affects the Elk River Watershed. Response to the recommendations is not expected until December or January.
The Bureau of Land Management King Range Management Plan is out. The General Plan for the Sinkyone Wilderness State Park has still not been released.
The Buckeye Forest Project anticipates sponsoring a watershed/cumulative impact workshop this coming late winter or early spring. The cumulative impact evaluation and response process is way overdue for reform. It is currently costly and essentially meaningless in the Timber Harvest Plan and related processes. Fights are anticipated over various positive and negative reforms for those processes at the BoF and in the Legislature in 2005.
Get in touch with EPIC at 707/923-2931 and Humboldt Watershed Council at 707/822-1166 for the latest information on many of the above topics and other issues.
Pray for abundant Salmon and Steelhead runs this season--get involved--rg
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TOC for Forest & River News, Fall 2004