December 18, 2009
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The Mattole Restoration Council's Program Timberland Environmental Impact Report (PTEIR) was among those contracted bond-funded projects recently restarted. Getting back up to speed after a 10-month layoff can be daunting, but progress is being made to complete a "light-touch" logging program to give incentives to landowners in the Mattole River Valley for good forest stewardship while providing positive benefits to
the environment. Another round of public review is likely in late 2010 as CalFire reviews the proposed program for approval.
There has been some significant restoration work continuing in the North Coast despite numerous setbacks. Projects that have been implemented include:
* River bank stabilization in the Mattole near Petrolia
* Restored wetlands and tidal influence in Humboldt Bay
* Crossing/landing removals and road decommissioning in the Standley Creek watershed of the Usal Redwood Forest
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A number of small landowners have been able and willing to do significant work on their road systems to reduce or eliminate erosion while upgrading safety and reliability. If so-called federal stimulus funding could be applied to the almost limitless number of problem "shovel-ready" sites related to private roads on the North Coast, the resulting meaningful jobs would provide employment for many for more than a decade--probably more than a generation.
This brings me to the so-called BIG PICTURE for the forested rural areas of Northern California, in particular the unique redwood coastal forests. As anticipated in the last "Diggin' In," the special feature entitled "The Tallest Trees--Redwoods--The Super Trees," in the October National Geographic Magazine, made quite an impact regionally, nationally, and world-wide. The article reported the 11-month Redwood Transect hike by Mike Fay and Lindsey Holm, the redwood canopy science of Steve Sillett, and the photography of "Nick" Nichols. Extensive presentations were made and are continuing to be made by these principals. An hour-long TV special was aired by the Geographic channel and is, I imagine, publicly available. The Redwood Forest Foundation (RFFI) and other timber and conservation interests and organizations involved themselves in responding to the event(s). Go to the National Geographic website to check out the layers of information relating to the special redwoods article.
On October 3rd at Humboldt State University (HSU), there was a "Conversation of 100" that turned out to be more like 200 or 800 if you include all those that attended the evening presentations by Fay, Nichols, and Sillett. HSU was proud to showcase the exploits of their very own Professor Sillett. During the afternoon there were "breakout sessions" that covered a range of vital Redwood Region topics, from restoration to forest economics to social impacts. Mike Fay envisions the need for implementing an extensive ecological, economic, and social recovery plan in the Redwood Region, and the conference was directed toward exploring what that might look like.
The Institute of Sustainable Forestry (ISF) was lucky to get Mike and Lindsey to appear and present at the Veterans' Hall in Garberville on a week's notice. Mike and Lindsey had just done two benefits for RFFI. The Veterans' Hall was packed, the slide presentation and discussion were well received, with extensive questions and answers into the evening. Part of the main thrust of Mike's interest, after hiking the whole Redwood Coast and communicating with a huge array of landowners, residents of all persuasions, backgrounds, and outlooks, as well as agency personnel and scientists, is that older and larger redwood trees need to be grown, and there needs to be a meticulous stewardship applied that has a focus on providing both high-quality timber and a high-quality environment.
During Mike and Lindsey's time here in October, there was an incredible workshop held at Jackson Demonstration State Forest that they attended. I hope to have some descriptions and transcriptions from that workshop for the next issue of Forest and River News. The workshop involved eight or so "selection silviculture" foresters, who mainly manage forestland emphasizing "all-aged" management rather than "even-aged" management, the latter often associated with clearcutting. From what I understand, these foresters were "schooling" CalFire in the benefits and viability of single-tree selection to give long-term high-quality timber and economic return, rather than jumping to knocking down extensive areas of recovering forest to "get a fresh start." The even-aged model of much of current industrial forest management is to carry out a patchwork of 20-acre clearcuts that are followed up over (short) time periods by additional adjacent similar clearcuts--a process that results in a forest matrix with the oldest trees generally being from 40 to 60 years old.
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This is one of the reasons why the success of the Usal Redwood Forest and other similar efforts is so vitally important. The RFFI model, closely parallel to the certification standards of the Forest Stewardship Council, emphasizes little or no clearcutting, little or no herbicides, and long-term rotations. Projects such as the Usal Redwood Forest need conservation easements and other mechanisms to enable the economic and environmental recovery of the forests, and the long-term retention of those forestlands for productivity and conservation.
This paragraph from the last "Diggin' In" still applies:
". . . abysmal economic conditions [exist] in California and across the nation. There is hardly any logging going on anywhere in California--the value for the timber resource having plummeted. The bright side is that this gives an opportunity for forest recovery, stewardship planning, and implementation of stewardship measures--if funding can be found. Things are sure "out-of-whack" when all the high-value and high-energy components of forest resources remain squandered and/or unappreciated. Making fuel hazard reduction, forest stand improvement, and clean energy production work together is certainly unrealized here, although different initiatives are going on in the region to make some positive and cooperative change."
Moving on to related topics
It is hoped that salmon spawning surveys will be expanded this year in the Usal Redwood Forest to include Anderson, Standley, and perhaps other South Fork Eel River tributaries. An "exchange" workshop was recently held where people involved in fuel hazard reduction and related efforts in Southern Humboldt joined together with folks from RFFI, ISF, and Campbell Timber Management to examine examples of work done, and what might be done, in both Southern Humboldt and on the Usal Redwood Forest property. There were many valuable discussions, and people will be working together to set up actual projects to deal with a number of fuel reduction and silviculture issues.
Work continues on getting a Restoration Plan together for the Usal Redwood Forest, as does the effort to implement restoration work in the Standley Creek watershed. Phase 1 was completed this summer and much of Phase 2 worked on. Check out the before and after photos on pages 12-13 of the crossing/landing removal in the Clark Fork of Standley Creek. More than 7,000 cubic yards of human-induced fill was removed from the stream channel. It has taken quite a partnership to make this work a reality, a partnership that has included Pacific Watershed Associates, Campbell Timber Management, Trout Unlimited, the California Department of Fish and Game, Schuster Logging, RFFI, and others.
On a positive note, regarding two important statewide forestry issues, cumulative effects and site-specific protective measures: Pilot projects to actually deal with the process and details to address and provide guidance on those issues were part of the "new" Andromous Salmonid Protection Rules 2009 passed by the Board of Forestry, which go into effect on January 1, 2010. These newly passed rules call for two such pilot projects. Of course, the devil being in the details, it's going to take strong pressure from all three main stakeholder groups (the landowners/plan submitters, the agencies, and the affected public) to make sure the pilot projects are actually implemented with qualified and respected participants from each of the three main interests. Having the public be represented in these matters will be a significant change.
Short summaries of other issues:
The Board of Forestry will be eliminating rules affecting coho salmon that they passed last year and were then declared outside the Board's authority by the court in litigation over the coho salmon by the Environmental Protection Information Center, the Sierra Club, and Cal Trout. It is assumed that DF&G will eliminate certain coho regulations that the court ruled, in the same litigation, needed an Environmental Impact Report. Or perhaps the agency will be doing an EIR.
Waiver renewal for Waste Discharge Permits for logging by the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board: Legal appeals against this renewal have been lodged by timber interests, and the appeal process is continuing. Among other things, the waivers call for Erosion Control and Road Management Plans.
The Board of Forestry passed the Anadromous Salmonid Protection Rules 2009. See above. Also see their website for whole sets of issues and rulemaking, including the formation of an Effectiveness Monitoring Subcommittee. Public Board Member David Nawi resigned to take on a position in the Obama administration. Have any nominations to replace him? How about a savvy woman scientist?
Get in touch with EPIC and Humboldt Watershed Council for the latest information on many of the above topics and other issues. Please get involved in ways that are effective and meaningful for you, and that contribute to real solutions.
...rg
Since arriving in the Mattole Valley of Humboldt County in 1971, Richard Gienger has immersed himself in homesteading, forest activism, and watershed restoration. Richard's column covers a range of issues including fisheries and watershed restoration and forestry, plus describes opportunities for the public to make positive contributions in the administrative and legislative arenas as well as in their own backyards.
For More Info:
Board of Forestry
www.bof.fire.ca.gov
EPIC
www.wildcalifornia.org
Humboldt Watershed Council
*www. voicesofhumboldtcounty.com*
National Geographic
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/10/redwoods/bourne-text
ReSeed California
http://stopworkimpact.ning.com
Richard Gienger
rgrocks@humboldt.net
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TOC for Forest & River News, Winter 2009