Greenwood Watershed Association (GWA) has filed two more suits against Mendocino Red-wood Company (MRC). The first one is over MRC's failure to comply with a court order in a suit won by GWA in 2000. In the original suit the judge stopped the logging on three different plans and set up rules for how MRC was to deal with the issue of cumulative impacts in the affected watersheds. MRC has since regurgitated the plans and California Department of Forestry (CDF) has rubber-stamped those and newer ones in the same watersheds. GWA is taking the company back to court to have the first order enforced. The second suit has been filed over MRC's failure to include sensitive information regarding marbled murrelet habitat in Elk Creek watershed THPs, and failure to address the cumulative impact that continued logging in the watershed is having on murrelet habitat.
MRC (or Murk, as in...), is owned by the Fisher family, which also owns the Gap, Old Navy, and Banana Republic chain of stores. The timber company now has:
* about 300 Timber Harvest Plans (THPs) filed in Mendocino County. Many of them involve some form of clearcutting.
* 35 THPs filed in the Greenwood Creek and Elk Creek watersheds alone.
* one of them in Greenwood watershed has 25 existing landslides.
* While as recently as six years ago both creeks were considered important salmon spawning grounds, salmon are now virtually non-existent in these creeks.
* Countywide, in five years MRC has increased its rate of THPs filed by 200% over Louisiana Pacific, the previous owner of these forestlandsÑa company long considered the scourge of the county. (LP, 1997Ð4,000 acres; MRC, 1998Ð4,000 acres, 1999Ð7,000 acres, 2000Ð8,000 acres, 2001Ð12,000 acres, for approximately 35,000 acres under THPs.)
For more information, check out www.gapsucks.org or call (415) 731-7924 or (707) 877-3405.
Mary Pjerrou of GWA recently received the Juliette Anthony Grassroots Prize ($1,000), awarded by the Oakland-based Rose Foun-dation for Communities and the Environment, to recognize her outstanding contribution to grassroots environmental stewardship and her tireless efforts to protect the remaining groves of ancient redwood forests.
Pjerrou stated, "I wish that this award could be multiplied a thousand-fold to all of the other tireless activists who have worked to save Mendocino's forests. I am one among many. We all feel tremendous frustration at the powers arrayed against us. But we are doing the right thing. There is a real danger that these forests may not be here for future generations. The way things are going, Mendocino may end up looking like Greece or northern AfricaÑor Afghanistan. Save the redwoods! Boycott the Gap!"
ÐEd Nieves
World's Tallest Tree Protected
The property encompassing THP 1-00-364-MEN, which we call the Montomery Woods THP, was recently purchased and taken out of the hands of William DeRitter, notorious throughout northern California for abusing the "Less Than Three-Acre Conversion Exemption." The property was purchased for $235,000, or slightly more than DeRitter paid for the property two years ago. Readers may remember that last year forest activists were able to halt logging operations on this 78-acre parcel, which is adjacent to Montgomery Woods State Reserve, home of the world's tallest tree. The ridgetop logging would have destroyed the natural buffer between the ocean winds and the tall redwood trees of Montgomery Woods. The realtor who handled the sale has told us that the new owner has no intention of logging the property, bringing to a successful conclusion the struggle to save the big trees in Montgomery Woods State Reserve.
In addition, the Mendocino County District Attorney's office has charged DeRitter, his partner Richard Priest and Frank Burns, their Registered Professional Forester, with several felony counts for violations of the Forest Practices Act. The charges were brought after DeRitter and crew failed to complete the work on four separate parcels in Mendocino County where they had operated using the "Less Than Three-Acre" rules.
ÐEd Nieves
Logging Near Enchanted Meadow Stopped
Albion River Watershed Protection Association (ARWPA) was granted a Temporary Restraining Order by a Mendocino Superior Court judge in May that stopped the operations of MRC on THP 1-01-033-MEN. This is the latest lawsuit in a 13-year-history of litigation by environmental groups in their attempts to protect an area of great importance to the biological integrity of the Albion River.
This latest 141-acre plan is adjacent to the Raven's Call and Enchanted Meadow Wetlands SanctuariesÑspecial places that, since 1978, have been the heart of the community's resistance to industrial timber's exploitation of the forests.
The plaintiffs contend that CDF violated the right of the public to participate in review of this plan by their failure to put significant environmental information into the plan record for agency and public review. In fact, several important documents were added to the record of the plan the very day that CDF approved itÑten months after the close of public comment.
"It is not an exaggeration," stated ARWPA's attorney in his petition to the court, "to say that this THP is a lesson in how to violate the public comment provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the Forest Practices Act (FPA)."
"We had asked early on in the process," explained Linda Perkins, ARWPA member, "that data for the northern spotted owls be put in the plan for our review. Given MRC's increased level of cut in the AlbionÑthey take 20% or more of their annual cut from this 7% of their landÑwe particularly wanted assurance that this plan would not reduce high quality owl habitat. We were astounded to find that the record had been 'stuffed' last minuteÑa clear violation of the law."
Two other community members, both of whom have followed closely the Forest Stewardship Council's (FSC) certification of MRC, were shaking their heads over this disregard for the law.
"It's very disturbing," said Al Gray of Mendocino, "that while MRC enjoys the 'green stamp' of FSC, they only pretend to be sympathetic to our concerns and continue the same old practices."
"And," added Bernie Macdonald of Albion, "the certifiers appear to be supporting this kind of disingenuous treatment of the community by not issuing MRC's first annual audit reportÑpromised us four months ago."
The case will continue with another court hearing in June.
For further information, call Linda Perkins, 937-0903.
A New Era for Timber Politics
March 12 marked the beginning of a new era for timber politics in Mendocino County. The occasion was consideration by the Board of Supervisors of a resolution endorsing future large-scale logging in Jackson Demonstration State Forest. This resolution originated in the Mendocino Forest Council, an official committee of the Board. Local timber mills and logging companies were behind this resolution.
The Campaign to Restore Jackson State Redwood Forest mounted a major drive to oppose the resolution. It did this not only because the resolution was ill-conceived and inappropriate, but to serve notice that Jackson State Forest was owned by the public, not the timber companies.
Despite the location of the meeting, one and one-half hours away from the coast where most Campaign supporters live, between 60 and 75 persons turned up for the event. The timber industry, threatened by the first real challenge to their control of Jackson State, turned out an equal number of mill and logging company owners, foresters, and timber unionists.
Because many people wanted to be heard, the Board limited speakers to three minutes each. Those from the timber industry repeatedly stressed the importance of the timber industry and logging of Jackson State to the economy and tax revenues of Mendocino County. Those supporting restoration stressed that Jackson State was owned by the public and should be used to provide habitat and recreation. Notably, no one not directly associated with the timber industry spoke in favor of logging Jackson State.
The Campaign countered the economic arguments of the timber workers with data on employment and tax revenues. Timber and woodworking now provide only six percent of industrial employment in the county, down from 23 percent in 1972; thus timber is now only a minor and shrinking part of the economy. Tax revenues in Fort Bragg have grown rapidly over the last 30 years (while the timber industry has been shrinking). The bed tax now provides Fort Bragg with $1.2 million, compared to $0.45 million in-lieu taxes paid by Jackson State Forest to the county.
At the end of almost four hours of testimony and debate, the Board passed a resolution that differed significantly from the one that started in the Forest Council. It included an amendment put forth by the Campaign to recognize that forests were important not just for the economy (the only value mentioned initially), but also for the county's "environment and wildlife, and for the recreation, nourishment, and education of its citizenry." It omitted praise for past timber practices in Jackson State, and it qualified support for "the sustainable production and management of timber resources on Jackson Demonstration State Forest" by adding the phrase, "with balanced consideration for recreation, wildlife, research and education."
While the passed resolution falls far short of the goal of the Campaign to Restore Jackson State Redwood Forest, it is the first official county repudiation of timber production as the primary purpose of the forest.
Equally important, the amount of public support for restoration certainly opened the eyes of the politicians, not simply the supervisors themselves, but all other politicians within and outside of the county. Although this particular group of supervisors refused to heed the public outcry, other politicians now know that restoration has broad public support. This will certainly move the "politic" position on use of the public forest in our direction.
CDF has agreed to halt all logging in Jackson State Forest until a new management plan and Environmental Impact Report (EIR) are approved.
The halt in logging was the key provision of a settlement agreement filed on March 20 with the Mendocino Superior Court. The agreement settles the lawsuit the Campaign filed in June 2000 against CDF and the Board of Forestry. The suit claimed that CDF needed a "current management plan" in order to do logging in Jackson State and that the last plan, prepared in 1983, was badly out of date. The court agreed and issued a preliminary injunction in May 2001. The settlement finalizes the injunction.
The settlement also ends an abortive attempt by CDF and the Board of Forestry to nullify the lawsuit. After the court issued its preliminary injunction against further logging, CDF and the Board cooperated to hastily revise Board of Forestry policies on state forests. A July 2001 amendment removed the requirement that forest operations be conducted under a "current management plan," the key provision cited by the court in issuing its injunction. After the amendment, CDF announced its intention to ask the court to dismiss the lawsuit.
Rather than succeeding, this attempt to evade the law added further to the state's legal problems. The Campaign's lawyer, Paul Carroll, provided CDF and the Board with case law showing that the Board amendment was illegal because it didn't follow procedures mandated by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Evidently CDF and the Board agreed with Mr. Carroll, because when Judge Richard Henderson brought lawyers for all parties together for a settlement conference in August 2001, CDF and the Board agreed to the halt in logging contained in the settlement. In return they asked for and received the Campaign's agreement not to sue the Board over its hasty policy change, thereby avoiding another probable court embarrassment.
A new management plan and related EIR must be approved before logging in Jackson State Forest can resume. CDF released an initial draft management plan in May 2001 and said that it would release an EIR in April 2002. Strict requirements for the content of the EIR and process for approval are set out in CEQA. It is uncertain whether this process can be completed in time for any logging to take place in Jackson State Forest this year.
The Campaign for Old-Growth Preservation (CFOG) reminds circulators of the petition to place the Heritage Tree Preservation Act on the statewide ballot to send all completed (or partially completed) petitions to: CFOG, P.O. Box 17456, Los Angeles, CA 90017. Please fill out the Declaration of Circulator before mailing. Blank petitions need not be returned. For updates on the progress of the campaign, log onto our website at www.ancienttrees.org.
Copyright Mendocino Environmental Center 2002
Permission granted to excerpt or use this article if source is cited