Friends of Gualala River Protecting the Gualala River watershed and the species living within it
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 threats to biodiversity worldwide, to try and to stop Gualala Redwood Timber’s Dogwood Timber Harvest Plan, in the Gualala River watershed. On July 8, the two nonprofits jointly filed a notice of intent to sue both Gualala Redwood Timber, which is owned by Redwood Empire Sawmill, and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) in federal court for alleged violations of the Endangered Species Act.
The conservation groups believe that the logging operation — which the timber company says would harvest mostly mature redwoods of 90 to 100 years old — and could substantially harm the Gualala River Watershed population of five federally listed endangered species. The two nonprofits want Gualala Redwood Timber to apply for a special permit, called an “incidental take permit,” designated for projects that may harm a listed species in any way (including significant habitat modification) before moving forward with their timber harvest plan.
. . .
To read the entire article, visit The Mendocino Voice:
Conservationists escalate legal battle over logging plan in Gualala floodplain,
file intent to sue Gualala Redwood Timber & Cal Fire in federal court
