Protecting the Coho Salmon and

the Northern Buffer of Headwaters Forest

by Kathy Glass, Trees Foundation

The land adjacent to Headwaters Grove on the north is owned not by Pacific Lumber but by Elk River Timber, a subsidiary of Sierra Pacific Industries. This area, though logged in the past, today contains healthy stands of second-growth redwood and Douglas fir and constitutes an important buffer zone for the intact old growth. Over the years, efforts to protect the entirety of Headwaters Forest have included discussions with Elk River Timber/SPI, whose officials indicate a willingness to sell or trade this part of the company's land for public acquisition. However, because no agreement has ever been finalized, the timber company lifted a voluntary moratorium in 1995 and began harvesting in "northern Headwaters," clearcutting a huge swath along the boundary of Headwaters Grove itself.

This year another timber harvest plan in the same area targets the watershed in which one of California's last viable populations of wild coho salmon still spawnsÐthe South Fork of the Elk River. The already-approved plan proposed to cut about 395 acres of remnant protective forest habitat along and above two and a half miles of the South Fork Elk, thereby destroying this critical coho habitat. Logging degrades fish habitat by stripping away sheltering woody debris and increasing erosion problems, thereby filling spawning beds and pools with sediment. As streams get shallower, water temperatures increase, posing another hazard to aquatic life. In California, only 1% of the historic coho population survives today, and a fishery that once employed 10,000 people has been shut down entirely. Because the coho is threatened by extinction in the Pacific Northwest, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) proposed that the species be listed under the Endangered Species Act, but this still awaits finalization amidst a backlog of paperwork.

Concerned about the coho's future as well as the integrity of the affected watershed, EPIC filed a claim in June '96 challenging CDF and DFG's failure to uphold statutory and public trust obligations when they approved the Elk River timber harvest plan (known as THP 059). The claim alleges it is the state agencies' duty to protect the imperiled coho salmon from extirpation. EPIC's request for an injunction against logging was denied on a narrow ruling based on minimum standards for Forest Practice Rules, with the case's major issues of public trust virtually ignored.

We propose the establishment of a 13,000-acre area north of the already-designated marbled murrelet critical habitat area as a Coho Salmon Study Area worthy of federal protection. This acreage is included in the 60,000 acres we seek to protect as the greater Headwaters Forest.

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Last Update: 10/6/96