Middle Mattole Conservancy

Middle Mattole Conservancy
August 15, 2002


When you ask people how they came to live in the Mattole River watershed there are as many interesting stories as there are people to tell them. One such story begins in the drought year in the fall of 1976 when some young travelers came not in covered wagons, but in a 1968 Rambler with New York plates. They made a friend in town who invited them to his place in the wilderness with a promise of land for sale and music to be played. They followed him through the ancient forest where Redwood trees stood like gentle giants waiting for rains to come. Through the forest, up the switchbacks and over a mountain they climbed. When they reached the top looking back over the Eel River watershed there was a view of intact ancient forests for as far as the eye could see. To the west was a coastal sunset over Rainbow Ridge edged only by the blackness of its? old growth Douglas fir.

As many others would tell you, they began to feel drawn to this place. It?s the one common denominator in everyone?s story: The incredible beauty and the quality of life that captured their hearts and held them here (even after travelling past slides, over washouts, and down miles of rutted dirt roads.) They couldn?t help but wonder what had caused the huge ruts they were straddling, but a feeling of destiny crept in. They had found their home at last.
The winter of 1977 would wash away the mystery surrounding the ruts and washouts. As the cycle of drought ended and winter began the challenges became numerous. Torrential down-pours seemed relentless. We would have to wait for spring to bring in equipment. Many efforts were made to open roads and literally dig out by shoveling and passing buckets of heavy mud. This became a social event and an opportunity to meet the few neighbors that were here at the time. Through necessity, these common goal projects were the beginning of building community understanding about environmental impacts that affect us all.

Legacy damage from previous deforestation (corporate and private) and storm events (1955, 1964) had ripped away stream banks that were virtually void of riparian vegetation and canopy cover, especially in the lower reaches. At this point, individuals began to replant vegetation and trees in order to stabilize the failing stream banks, as well as reduce water temperatures. Over time we began connecting our projects and planting cooperatively and saw how working together in this way enabled us to have a greater effect on the stream as well as the landscape.

Some of our first plantings were lost in a forest fire that burned two thousand acres in the summer of 1980. A tremendous amount of fuel loads and ground slash from previous logging created the perfect situation for a hot fire. It smoldered for months. Pits of hot coals were all that remained. The coals burned beneath the ground, following root systems where trees once stood. Three homes were lost. The community realized that something needed to be done to restore this devastation and prevent it from happening again.

The following year, neighbors collected Alder cones and carried bushels to be spread along the stream. Within two years, the trees began to sprout and they now provide shade throughout the lower portions of the stream. The burned over areas regenerated first in brush, then with hardwoods. However, the Douglas fir that was dominant was no longer present in any significant number due to the lack of standing seed stock. Since that time, more then one hundred thousand trees have been planted. The new settlers did the majority of this work. We began to network and we realized there were other people within our watershed who were also aware of what needed to happen.

Over the years our small community has grown in our understanding of what has taken place, what is still taking place, and what can be done to remedy the situation. As our community worked diligently to restore our landscape we also became aware of the threat of losing some of the only intact forest ecosystem remaining in our neighborhood Gilham Butte.

During the late seventies community members worked to convince the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to not log the core reserve of old growth on Gilham Butte. Through hard work and community dedication the Gilham Butte area received a designation as a Late Successional Reserve and an Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC).

During the 1990?s industrial lands surrounding the core reserve would eventually be threatened by proposed logging. The Friends of Gilham Butte (FOGB) was founded and litigation ensued. EPIC joined with FOGB to successfully challenge particular aspects of the proposed timber harvest plans, and although not a single tree had been fallen, none of the suits delivered permanent protection. Greater protection was needed and the greatest protection would be to purchase the threatened areas, which happened in early 2000.

That same local community of people interested in responsible stewardship practices, the health of our natural surroundings, and the future well being of our community, founded the Middle Mattole Conservancy, whose goal is to accelerate the recovery of our watershed through outreach, education, restoration and conservation. We have worked to build a strong coalition of grassroots support for what is now known as the Redwoods to Sea acquisition that protected 5,000 acres of wild lands on Gilham Butte and in the Mattole River watershed. Working collaboratively with Save the Redwoods League, Ancient Forests International, the Bureau of Land Management, Friends of Gilham Butte and other grassroots organizations led to organizing a stewardship project in which local people gained expertise in a number of stewardship/restoration techniques.

The Mattole Salmon Group (MSG) taught a workshop on Salmon, training residents in fish identification, absence/presence surveys, and the V-Star method of measuring in-stream sediment delivery. Hobo temperature monitors were placed in three streams. Middle Mattole landowners continue to work with the MSG as a result of this project.

The Institute for Sustainable Forestry taught workshops on fuel load reduction (a matter close to our hearts) and habitat enhancement.

Sanctuary Forest held workshops on conservation easements, estate planning and more. This was a great introduction to the latest concepts in private ownership protections and securing the future of privately owned forests and landscapes.

LEGACY-TLC held workshops on canopy structure and it?s importance to wildlife, as well as a forest carnivore tracking project. This led to the MMC adding a wildlife biologist to our team, who is currently surveying for Northern Spotted Owl sites on the newly acquired parcels on Gilham Butte.

The MMC works with the Mattole Restoration Council in numerous ways, helping to assist in and pioneer their Good Roads Clear Creeks project. A training for local residents was offered in road and stream inventories resulting in numerous miles of roads being inventoried and prescriptions developed for future projects.

Recently, the MMC has entered into a cooperative management agreement with the BLM regarding the future management of Gilham Butte. This fall we will be organizing public meetings to encourage community input regarding this area of critical environmental concern. The goal of these meetings will be to draft a Community Management Plan by identifying issues of concern, considering alternatives, and developing solutions.

The MMC has established a Resource Center and library which is available to the community. It offers information that would not ordinarily be available in such a remote area, including books, educational videos and maps. We have produced three newsletters informing local residents of our current and ongoing projects as well as sharing ideas on alternatives to pesticides, water conservation, the importance of canopy structure and more. Our long-term goals include completing the process to become a non-profit land trust and to add community based management to the mosaic of public and privately managed lands.



This article can be found online at www.treesfoundation.org/publications/article-103

Forest & River News is produced by Trees Foundation. For more information contact:
Middle Mattole Conservancy
PO Box 73
Honeydew, CA 95545
Email: middlemattole@asis.com
Phone: (707) 223-0044