Floodplain Logging

Letter from hydrologist Greg Kamman on the recirculated “Dogwood” logging plan in the floodplain of the Gualala River (December, 2015): Brief excerpt: “Given the Gualala River is a sediment and temperature impaired waterway, it is my opinion that State resources agencies should not approve the Dogwood THP until it can demonstrate that proposed timber harvest actions will not lead to …

Letter from botanist & coastal ecologist Peter Baye on the recirculated “Dogwood” logging plan in the floodplain of the Gualala River (December, 2015) — download pdf:   Brief excerpt: Conclusions and Recommendations Despite recirculation and ample opportunity to correct deep flaws in the THP identified in public and expert comments, the Dogwood THP persistently retains both careless errors and apparently …

On November 15, 2015, the Gualala Municipal Advisory Council (GMAC) sent a letter to CalFire expressing concerns regarding the proposed “Dogwood” and “Apple” logging plans in and directly adjacent to the environmentally sensitive floodplain of the Gualala River. Download the letter in pdf format: GMAC letter on Apple & Dogwood logging plans

by Mary Callahan, The Press Democrat, October 22, 2015 [excerpt:] Plans to harvest century-old redwoods along the Gualala River are stirring opposition in the wake of an unsuccessful bid to acquire the commercial timberland for conservation purposes, including the expansion of a public park. The logging proposal covers more than 500 acres upstream from the town of Gualala and includes …

by Will Parrish, North Bay Bohemian, October 21, 2015 [excerpt:] The fight to save majestic coastal redwood groves in California has been waged for more than a century, starting with the campaign that created Big Basin State Park in 1902. . . . This year, a new redwood battle has emerged, this time in northwestern Sonoma County. Gualala Redwoods Timber …

by Amie Windsor August 21, 2015 © copyright 2015, Independent Coast Observer reprinted with permission More information around the extended comment period for timber harvest plan (THP) 1-15-042-SON, also known as “Dogwood,” has emerged: according to Cal Fire Deputy Chief Leslie Markham, the comment period has not been extended, as previously reported in the ICO. Rather, a new comment period …

Gualala Redwood Timber has proposed two logging plans targeting redwood forest in the floodplain of the Gualala River and on steep slopes directly above ( THP 1-15-042-SON “Dogwood” and THP 1-15-033 SON “Apple,” respectively). The plans fail to comply with state and federal laws protecting threatened and endangered species. Agencies which should be protecting those species (National Marine Fisheries Service, …

Updated August 12, 2015 Friends of Gualala River hired a geographic information system (GIS) specialist to take the multiple timber harvest plan (THP) maps submitted and make new composite maps that are readable in context of the landscape and past logging. The full extent of the footprint of the logging plans in the lower Gualala River floodplain redwood forest and …

Letter — signed by Sierra Club Redwood Chapter, Center for Biological Diversity, Madrone Audubon Society, California Native Plant Society (Dorothy King Young Chapter), Friends of the Gualala River, Forest Unlimited, and Northern California River Watch — commenting on Timber Harvest Plans THP 1-15-042 SON (Gualala Redwoods Inc. “Dogwood” THP) and THP 1-15-033 SON (Gualala Redwoods Inc. “Apple” THP): Click on …

Technical comments on the “Dogwood” and “Apple” logging plans from Greg Kamman, a hydrologist with over twenty five years of technical and consulting experience in the fields of geology, hydrology, and hydrogeology. The data analysis in Kamman’s letter concludes that GRI’s consultant’s 2010 “analysis is flawed and grossly underestimates the potential impacts on steelhead summer rearing habitat in the river …

Update: August 6 Thanks to efforts by Sonoma County Supervisor Efren Carrillo, Mendocino County Supervisor Dan Hamburg, State Senator Mike McGuire, Congressman Jared Huffman and others, the deadline for public comments on THP 1-15-042 “Dogwood” has been extended for at least 30 days on grounds that CAL FIRE found “discrepancies” in the plan. Dear Friends of the Gualala River, You …

Friends of Gualala River An affiliate of the Redwood Coast Watersheds Alliance P.O. Box 1543, Gualala, CA 95445  GualalaRiver.org July 20, 2015 Cal Fire – Forest Practice Program Manager 135 Ridgeway Ave. Santa Rosa, California 95401 santarosapubliccomments@calfire.ca.gov SUBJECT: THP 1-15-042 SON (Gualala Redwoods Inc. “Dogwood” THP) THP 1-15-033 SON (Gualala Redwoods Inc. “Apple” THP) Dear CAL FIRE: Friends of the …

by Peter Baye, Friends of Gualala River The lower Gualala River has a wide meandering floodplain rich in wetlands, mature productive riparian redwood forests and highly diverse riparian habitats supporting many special-status plant, fish, and wildlife species. “Flood prone” redwood forests are supposed to be protected by avoidance of logging disturbances under special salmonid protection rules under the Forest Practices …

Comment letters from Dr. John W. Cruz, Forest Unlimited Logging Review Program Manager, regarding the “Dogwood” and “Apple” logging plans: Click on the image above to download a pdf version of the letter.     Click on the image above to download a pdf version of the letter.

Comment letter from coastal ecologist & botanist Peter Baye regarding the “Dogwood” and “Apple” logging plans, with emphasis on timber harvest activities in flood-prone timberlands and wetlands: Click on the image above to download a pdf version of the letter.

Friends of the Gualala River protects the Gualala River watershed in Northern California and the species living within it.

A version of this article was published in the Independent Coast Observer on September 2, 2005. By Julie Verran Courtesy Independent Coast Observer, Gualala, CA Working timberlands producing redwood and Douglas fir are part of the coastal community here. On Tuesday, members of the Gualala River Watershed Council took members of the Gualala Municipal Advisory Council on a forest tour …

Friends of the Gualala River protects the Gualala River watershed in Northern California and the species living within it.

Friends of the Gualala River protects the Gualala River watershed in Northern California and the species living within it.

This article was published in the Independent Coast Observer on February 15, 2002. By Britt BaileyCourtesy Independent Coast Observer, Gualala, CA   In October, 2001, the California Department of Forestry denied the Cassidy Timber Harvest Plan which would have logged Redwoods in the floodplain of two of Gualala River’s tributaries. This decision was based on the recommendation by the National …