Logging plans

by Tempra Board Sea Ranch Soundings, Fall, 2020 © copyright 2020, The Sea Ranch Association reprinted with permission Editor’s note: On September 18, 2020, as this edition of Soundings was going to press, FoGR and the Center for Biological Diversity filed their federal lawsuit. On July 7, 2020, Friends of the Gualala River (FoGR) joined forces with the Center for …

by Lana Cohen, The Mendocino Voice, September 25, 2020 [excerpt:] Two conservation groups, Friends of Gualala River, and the Center for Biological Diversity have filed a lawsuit in federal court against Gualala Redwood Timber Company. They claim the timber company’s planned timber harvest project in the Gualala River watershed violates the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). The suit was filed …

By Scott Thomas Anderson, Sacramento News & Review, September 23, 2020 [excerpt:] Conservation groups sue massive logging project as violation of Endangered Species Act For many, the lush, towering redwoods along Sonoma County’s Gualala River are vestiges of a once-unspoiled Golden State, the verdant vanguard of a century-old forest that cradles an undammed stream spilling from the coastal mountains into …

For Immediate Release, September 15, 2020 Contact: Peter Galvin, Center for Biological Diversity, (707) 986-2600, pgalvin@biologicaldiversity.org Charles Ivor, Friends of Gualala River, (707) 337-0147, cfifish@mac.com GUALALA, Calif.— Conservation groups filed an Endangered Species Act lawsuit today against the Gualala Redwood Timber Company to protect threatened and endangered fish, birds and frogs from a logging project in a redwood forest near …

By Lana Cohen, The Mendocino Voice, August 1, 2020 [excerpt:] MENDOCINO Co., 8/1/20 — Friends of Gualala River, a local nonprofit, plans to move their five-year conflict over logging in the Gualala River floodplain from Sonoma County Superior Court to federal court. The local conservation group is teaming up with the Center for Biological Diversity, a nonprofit dedicated to fighting …

by Guy Kovner, The Press Democrat, July 14, 2020 [excerpt:] A five-year battle over plans to log in the remote Gualala River flood plain has taken a big step up with a powerhouse environmental group’s declaration to take the case to federal court, alleging the commercial tree harvest would harm protected fish, frogs and birds. Friends of Gualala River, a …

From July 10, 2020 Independent Coast Observer Reprinted by permission © Copyright Independent Coast Observer, Inc. www.mendonoma.com Two weeks after the California appeals court enjoined Gualala Redwood Timber LLC from logging the proposed Dogwood timber harvest plan in the floodplain of the Gualala River, a federal lawsuit has been brought against the Dogwood logging plan as well. The Center for …

For Immediate Release, July 9, 2020 Contact: Peter Galvin, Center for Biological Diversity, (707) 986-2600, pgalvin@biologicaldiversity.org Charles Ivor, Friends of Gualala River, (707) 337-0147, cfifish@mac.com GUALALA, Calif.— Conservation groups today filed a formal notice of intent to sue the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and a timber company for failing to protect threatened and endangered fish, birds and …

Gualala, CA. (April 13, 2020) – Friends of Gualala River (FoGR) recently took legal action to appeal the decision on the Dogwood timber harvest plan (THP) to the State Appellate Court. In addition, FoGR sought an injunction on logging until the appeal could be heard. The court granted the injunction last week which temporarily suspends logging of Dogwood. Gualala Redwood …

by Jeanne Jackson The Return to Writ on the Dogwood timber harvest plan (THP) was heard Friday Jan. 24, 2020, in Superior Court by Judge Wick. The two matters being considered were “alternatives” and “cumulative impacts.” In a tentative ruling, Judge Wick ruled against FoGR and sided with Cal-Fire. The final ruling from the hearing is due shortly. The one …

Update: The Little THP was approved by the Director of CalFire on September 23, 2021. Gualala Redwoods Timber has submitted another floodplain logging plan (“Little” THP 1-18-095-MEN), in addition to the disputed Dogwood Timber Harvest Plan (“Dogwood” THP 1-15-042-SON), as well as the “Elk” THP 1-19-00098-MEN. Friends of Gualala River (FoGR) is especially concerned with these plans to log 90-100 …

UPDATE: The Elk THP was withdrawn in 2024. In April, 2025, Gualala Redwood Timber filed a new logging plan called the Section 23 THP, which covers the part of the Elk THP north of the North Fork Gualala River. GRT states that they plan to submit a new plan within five years for most of the withdrawn Elk THP south …

by W. W. Keller August 9, 2019 © copyright 2019, Independent Coast Observer, Gualala, CA reprinted with permission In a letter dated July 31, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection or CalFire approved the third controversial Dogwood timber harvest plan stating, “You may begin timber operations proposed in the plan.” But while the letter says that property owner …

The controversial Dogwood timber harvest plan (THP 1-15-042-SON) was filed by Gualala Redwoods, Inc. (now Gualala Redwood Timber LLC) in May, 2015. The plan calls for logging 90~100 year old redwood trees in 300+ acres along 5 miles of the floodplain of the Gualala River. THP 1-15-042-SON “Dogwood” (pink) with previous THPs in same sub-watershed in orange That plan was …

Comments by Dr. Peter Baye (coastal ecologist, botanist) on the latest version of the “Dogwood” floodplain logging plan (THP 1-15-042-SON): Download & read the entire letter (8 pages, 310 KB)   The entire letter is well worth reading, but here’s a short excerpt (not a summary) to whet your appetite: Seasonal wetlands are widespread in the floodplain of the river, …

CAL FIRE has reopened the Dogwood Timber Harvest Plan (THP 1-15-042-SON) once again for public comment. Friends of Gualala River’s (FoGR) preliminary assessment of the recirculated Dogwood THP is presented in summary form below, for consideration by any citizen or organization preparing comments on the recirculated THP. FoGR encourages all commenters to independently read and assess relevant parts of the …

Friends of Gualala River (FoGR) and our allies once again recently prevailed in court. The timber harvest plan called Dogwood has been found twice to fail to meet California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requirements for failing to evaluate project alternatives with less environmental impacts. FoGR also won on the lack of a Cumulative Impact study. Dogwood III is just as …

This December, 2018 update details where FoGR is at the end of a tumultuous year of persistence. Everyone involved in the legal battles to protect the Gualala River floodplain should heave a sigh of relief, but not too deeply, for the struggles continue. Here we learn what may be next and why FoGR folks have to remain steady and vigilant. …

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 …

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 …