Forestry

Letter to the Editor, published in the Independent Coast Observer November 16, 2018 With the exciting news of the Mill Bend property in escrow to a conservation buyer, we see a golden opportunity to further protect the Gualala River for the benefit of everyone. The vast stretch of flat land along the south side of the river, from Gualala Point …

Media Release October 19, 2018 Sonoma County Superior Court once again has ruled in favor of Friends of Gualala River (FoGR) in its lawsuit against CAL FIRE’s approval of logging of coastal floodplain redwood forest in hundreds of acres of the Wild and Scenic Gualala River. The controversial “Dogwood” timber harvest plan (THP) proposed by Gualala Redwoods Timber LLC has …

Family’s legendary grove of old-growth redwoods preserved by Peter Fimrite, San Francisco Chronicle, June 26, 2018 [excerpt:] A sprawling forest of ancient coastal redwoods in Sonoma County — a grove so magnificent it matches the majesty of Muir Woods National Monument — is being acquired under a land deal that will ensure its protection and allow the public to walk …

Media Release June 7, 2018 Sonoma County Superior Court has once again granted a preliminary injunction to put the start of logging on hold in the 100-year-old redwood forest of the Gualala River floodplain, located in northwest Sonoma County and southwest Mendocino County. On June 5, 2018, Judge René Chouteau issued a tentative order granting a motion for preliminary injunction …

Listen to hydrologist Greg Kamman, who was interviewed by Hope McKenney on KZYX on May 15, 2018. “A controversial plan to log miles of the Gualala River floodplain, is back on track, after being on hold for a number of years. Opponents of the plan previously thwarted attempts to log the area by convincing a judge the timber harvest plan …

by Mary Callahan, The Press Democrat, April 19, 2018 [excerpt:] A controversial plan to log miles of Gualala River floodplain, including nearly century-old redwood trees just outside Gualala Point Regional Park, is back on track, setting the stage for a showdown in court or perhaps among the trees themselves. Charll Stoneman, forest manager for Gualala Redwood Timber, which owns the …

Friends of Gualala River (FoGR), along with Forest Unlimited, is taking legal action against the resubmitted Timber Harvest Plan “Dogwood,” the THP that would log in the floodplain of the Gualala River. CAL FIRE approved this THP on March 30, 2018. Dogwood contains the largest tracts of mature redwoods in floodplains, beginning at the boundary of Gualala Point Regional Park’s …

Tongass is the world’s largest intact temperate rainforest, with trees more than 1,000 years old. But a pro-logging effort could uproot them by Brendan Jones in Sitka, Alaska Published by The Guardian, March 22, 2018   [Excerpt:] At south-east Alaska’s last industrial-scale sawmill, wheel loaders stack debarked logs two storeys high on the frozen ground. A bumper sticker on a …

Attention: Forest Practice California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection 135 Ridgeway Ave, Santa Rosa, California 95401 santarosapubliccomments@calfire.ca.gov Subject: THP 1-15-042 SON – “Dogwood,” Reopened Public Comment Period Date: November 26, 2017 Friends of the Gualala River (FoGR) is a non-profit, grassroots watershed protection association formed to share common concerns and research regarding the welfare of the Gualala River, its …

Comment letters on the “Dogwood” floodplain logging plan (THP 1-15-042-SON), submitted on behalf of Friends of Gualala River by subject matter experts: Download: Letter by Tom Gaman, CA Registered Professional Forester and ARB Forest Carbon Verifier; Letter by Greg Kamman, CA Registered Geologist & Certified Hydrogeologist; Letter by Stacy Li, Ph.D., professional aquatic biologist. Our sincere thanks to these experts …

November 26, 2017 SUBJECT: THP 1-15-042 SON (Gualala Redwoods Timber LLC “Dogwood” THP, reopened public comment) CAL FIRE Forest Practice Program: Attached are my comment letters on the original and recirculated THP versions for the “Dogwood” Timber Harvest Plan 1-15-042, from 2015-2016. I am resubmitting these comments for the resubmitted THP of the same file number, which is substantially the …

November 2005 written by California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (now CAL FIRE) Click on the title page below to download the full document in pdf format: Flood Prone Area Considerations in the Coast Redwood Zone, by CDF (2005)   Original source: http://cal-fire.ca.gov/resource_mgt/downloads/RiparianProtComWhitePaperfinal.pdf

We are sorry to report that Gualala Redwood Timber (GRT), has decided to resubmit the Timber Harvest Plan called “Dogwood,” located in the floodplain of the Gualala River — the one we have been protesting and fighting for two years. We knew that winning in court didn’t save the Gualala River floodplain. The judge, in essence, told GRT they had …

How a Northern California community halted a plan to log old coast redwood trees in the Gualala River floodplain by Jeanne Jackson Published in Wild Hope magazine Fall, 2017 re-printed with permission The Gualala River empties into the Pacific Ocean at the border between Sonoma and Mendocino counties on the northern California coast. It is a wild river with no …

We are very sorry to report that Gualala Redwood Timber (GRT), owned by the Burch family, has decided to resubmit the Timber Harvest Plan called “Dogwood,” the one we have been protesting and fighting for two years. We knew that winning in court didn’t save the Gualala River floodplain. The judge, in essence, told GRT they had to take into …

Friends of Gualala River Forest Unlimited California Native Plant Society MEDIA RELEASE Date: September 26, 2017 The lawsuit to stop logging the Gualala River floodplain redwood forest tract in the “Dogwood” timber harvest plan (THP) is over. CAL FIRE was ordered by Sonoma County Superior Court to vacate (revoke) the Gualala Redwood Timber Company timber harvest plan on April 18, …

Thursday, September 14, 2017 6:30 to 8:00 p.m Gualala Arts Center 46501 Old State Highway Join us for a FREE community presentation by Chris Kelly on The Conservation Fund’s 14,000 acre Gualala River Forest and 21,000 acre Buckeye Forest (formerly “Preservation Ranch”). Discussion Topics Include: Public Access Carbon Credits and California’s Cap-and-Trade Program Sustainable Forestry vs. Conventional Forestry Chris Kelly, …

Friends of Gualala River Forest Unlimited California Native Plant Society MEDIA RELEASE Date: June 29, 2017 After halting logging in the environmentally sensitive mature floodplain redwood forest of the lower Gualala River, Judge René Chouteau of Sonoma County Superior Court awarded $162,000 in attorney’s fees to the successful parties in environmental litigation over CAL FIRE’s approval of the Dogwood Timber …

by Mary Callahan, The Press Democrat, June 20, 2017 [excerpt:] A disputed 2-year-old plan to log along several miles of the Gualala River floodplain remains in limbo five months after a Sonoma County judge nullified its approval and sent it back to state forestry officials for revision and additional public review. Acting on a lawsuit brought by environmental groups, Superior …

by Will Parrish, North Bay Bohemian, February 15, 2017 [excerpt:] Here in the North Bay, a controversy over timber industry damage to the Gualala River in northwestern Sonoma and southeastern Mendocino counties has been raging since 2015. First came the Dogwood plan, a 320-acre timber harvest plan filed by Gualala Redwoods Timber company (GRT). It involves tractor-logging hundreds of stately, …