Press

A sonnet, included in a letter to the Editor, published in the Independent Coast Observer November 30, 2018 And were you there two hundred years ago, small green island set in wide mouth of our Gualala River that now is shallow and slow? “No,” answer those slim young redwoods that tower above its banks. “This river then was mighty, a …

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 …

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 …

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, …

by Will Parrish © 2017 Anderson Valley Advertiser January 12, 2017 [excerpt:] First came the “Dogwood” plan: a 320-acre timber harvest plan (THP) filed by Gualala Redwoods Timber (GRT) in 2015. It involves tractor-logging hundreds of stately second-growth redwoods that line the lower Gualala River, which straddles the Sonoma-Mendocino county line on the coast, in areas spared from axes and …

by Mary Callahan, The Press Democrat, September 16, 2016 [excerpt:] A Sonoma County judge has halted logging operations tied to a disputed timber harvest plan in the Gualala River watershed until a court challenge against the project can be resolved. Superior Court Judge Rene Chouteau granted a preliminary injunction Wednesday, affirming an earlier tentative ruling in which he said environmentalists …

by Glenda Anderson, The Press Democrat, August 9, 2016 [excerpt:] North Coast environmental groups have followed through on their threat to sue Cal Fire over its approval of a 400-acre logging operation within the floodplain of lower Gualala River. The lawsuit, filed last week by Forest Unlimited and Friends of Gualala River, alleges state forestry officials failed to meet mandated …

by Will Parrish, North Bay Bohemian, July 27, 2016 [excerpt:] . . . In this story, we highlight several timber-industry fights playing out in the North Coast. These sorts of struggles will shape the long-term well-being of rural economies, the health of local ecosystems and the well-being of indigenous cultures. . . . LOGGING THE GUALALA FLOODPLAIN Last year, Gualala …

Environmentalists argue a California agency approved a 330-acre logging project that could damage sensitive floodplain habitat. July 15, 2016, by Taylor Hill, copyright © 2016 TakePart [excerpt:] This time, it’s not iconic old-growth redwood groves facing the ax along California’s northern coast, but the trees that are slated for logging are nearly as environmentally important, conservationists contend. Last week, Cal …

by Associated Press, Thursday, July 14, 2016 [excerpt:] Opponents of a logging plan that includes century-old redwood trees have notified California forestry officials that they plan to sue unless the state rescinds its approval of the project. . . . The groups says the “Dogwood” timber harvest plan along the lower Gualala River will degrade floodplain habitat for plants and …

by Mary Callahan, The Press Democrat, July 13, 2016 [excerpt:] Foes of a plan to log hundreds of acres of timberland along the lower Gualala River, including century-old redwood trees, have notified state forestry officials they intend to sue over the project unless the state rescinds its approval. The official notice, submitted Friday to Cal Fire Director Ken Pimlott, came …

by Mary Callahan, The Press Democrat, July 4, 2016 [excerpt:] Cal Fire has granted final approval to a contentious timber harvest plan that includes logging century-old redwood trees along the lower Gualala River, though environmental advocates who object may challenge it. The 330-acre “Dogwood” harvest plan had been subjected to a rare three rounds of public review and comment before …

by Mary Callahan, The Press Democrat, May 10, 2016 [excerpt:] A disputed plan to log century-old redwoods along the Gualala River is running into stiff opposition from environmentalists who say the days of timber operations near North Coast streams, even on land long used for commercial logging, should be over. Opponents of the proposed timber harvest in northwestern Sonoma County …

 by Guy Kovner, The Press Democrat, January 3, 2016 [excerpt:] They say money doesn’t grow on trees, but a nearly 75,000-acre swath of redwood and fir forests blanketing the wildlands of Sonoma and Mendocino counties is generating millions of dollars as it contributes to California’s ambitious campaign to curb greenhouse gas emissions. In a reversal of forest profiteering that dates …

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 Mary Callahan, The Press Democrat, October 18, 2015 [excerpt:] Sonoma County supervisors have signed off on the final piece of a complex deal that will transfer nearly 700 acres of the Kashia Band of Pomo Indians’ ancestral lands near Stewarts Point back to the tribe in exchange for permission to build a public bluff-top trail along more than a …

by Clark Mason, The Press Democrat, October 17, 2015 [excerpt:] The Lytton Band of Pomo Indians has added remote coastal property to its growing Sonoma County real estate portfolio, including 300 acres once owned by a large Spanish wine company that had a controversial plan to clear-cut timber and plant vineyards there. The tribe, which bought the forest land once …

Peggy Berryhill’s interview with fisheries biologist Patrick Higgins KGUA radio, 88.3 FM in Gualala, CA August 25, 2015 Patrick Higgins shares his expertise on river watersheds, fish habitats and logging practices. Higgins is the Managing Director of the Eel River Restoration Project. As a scientist, he has studied the systems of numerous California rivers and shared his concerns about industrial …

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 …