Forestry

by Mary Callahan, The Press Democrat, March 28, 2021 [excerpt:] A legal battle over plans to log in the lower Gualala River flood plain is heading into a fifth year, despite a recent victory in state appeals court by Gualala Redwood Timber and Cal Fire which first approved the project back in 2016. The fight over the 342-acre timber project …

PRESS RELEASE Contact Information: Friends of Gualala River Charles Ivor, President (707) 337-0147 cfifish@mac.com or info@gualalariver.org For Immediate Release, March 22, 2021 Endangered Species Act Lawsuit Advances The Endangered Species Act [ESA] lawsuit filed by Friends of Gualala River [FoGR] and the Center for Biological Diversity [CBD] against Gualala Redwoods Timber [GRT] was given approval to move forward last Thursday. …

by John Dunlap, member of the Guerneville Forest Coalition This op-ed was published in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat on March 7, 2021 Reprinted with permission of the author A plan to log 224 acres of redwood and Douglas fir trees along the Russian River in Guerneville is just one of several timber harvests proposed or scheduled to take place …

The Far North timber harvest plan (THP 1-20-00150-MEN) was filed by Gualala Redwood Timber in September, 2020. The plan calls for logging redwood trees in 227 acres of the headwaters of the Little North Fork of the Gualala River. The plan was approved by the California Department of Forestry and Fire protection (CDF, also known as CalFire) in February, 2021. …

by Jeanne Jackson November, 2020 Friends of Gualala River (FoGR) appealed the most recent ruling on the Dogwood THP (Timber Harvest Plan) to the state appeals court. Attorney Edward Yates represents FoGR. Briefs are in to the three-judge panel. Yates estimates we will know the judges’ decision by the end of the year if Gualala Redwood Timber (GRT) doesn’t request …

Thank you donors! We’ve raised over half the funds needed for our Endangered Species Act lawsuit. Help us reach our funding goal and save the Gualala River, its redwood forest and its threatened and endangered species. “As Mother Earth faces climate change and growing numbers of species are going extinct, FoGR has a responsibility to speak for the threatened and …

by Chris Poehlmann, October, 2020 Two new plans have just been submitted to log the forest along Annapolis Road that will degrade large areas of the viewshed of one of our most treasured scenic roads. The view of the hills from Annapolis Road and adjacent to The Sea Ranch before and after “Twin Bridges” will be an eyesore for decades …

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 …

“We Speak for the River” That is our motto for the effort to raise $175K for an Endangered Species Act (ESA) lawsuit to stop the current, reckless Dogwood timber harvest plan, and other floodplain logging plans, in the Gualala River. It’s a daunting amount to raise for our small, but mighty, all volunteer non-profit. FoGR has received a $25,000 matching challenge …

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 …

by Guy Kovner, The Press Democrat, May 4, 2020 [excerpt:] . . . Throughout their lives, the world’s tallest trees — Sequoia sempervirens, meaning “always flourishing” — absorb carbon dioxide, the most prolific heat-trapping gas, and permanently lock it up in their durable heartwood. Coast redwoods are “a critical ingredient in the fight against climate change,” said Sam Hodder, president …

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 …