Friends of Gualala River Protecting the Gualala River watershed and the species living within it
The Steam Donkey timber harvest plan (THP 1-23-00099-SON) was filed by Gualala Redwood Timber (GRT) on July 31, 2023. The plan calls for logging redwood and Douglas fir trees in 824 acres adjacent to The Sea Ranch.
CalFire rejected the initial filing on August 10, after reviewers (from CalFire, Fish & Wildlife, Water Quality and CA. Geological Survey) identified 65 questionable items which needed to be addressed. GRT resubmitted the plan on August 21. CalFire rejected the second filing on August 31 after reviewers identified 22 additional questions which need to be addressed.
Gualala Redwood Timber submitted a third version of the logging plan on November 8. Agency review team, chaired by CalFire, recommended plan approval on February 29, 2024. Public comment period ended on March 11. Director’s Decision (final approval) was published on April 10, 2024.
The documents for the final (approved) version of the Steam Donkey timber harvest plan (THP) are available below.
Note: CalFire’s standard procedure is to print out the plan documents, scan them, and post the images to their publicly accessible database, CalTREES. As a result, it is impossible to search for text in the documents, because there are no words in the documents posted, only images of words. In order to make the documents more useful, we have used optical character recognition (OCR) on the documents posted below, so that you can search them.
Steam Donkey Timber Harvest Plan documents
Steam Donkey THP Section 1 – [4 MB, 9 pages] Legal description: Cover pages, signatures.
Steam Donkey THP Section 2 – [37 MB, 125 pages] Operations: Silviculture, Yarding, Erosion Hazard Rating, Winter operations, Roads & landings, Watercourse & lake protections, Alternative Watercourse & lake protections (in lieu of standard rules), Wildlife observances & enforceable provisions, Maps
Steam Donkey THP Section 3 – [5 MB, 22 pages] Supporting materials: General Description of Plan Area, Analysis of Alternatives, Silvicultural Methods, Ground-based equipment on steep slopes, Roads, Landings and Skid Trails, Archaeological survey methods and procedures
Steam Donkey THP Section 4 – [23 MB, 162 pages] Cumulative Impacts: Past, present and future projects, assessment of cumulative watershed effects, soil productivity, biological resources, recreational, visual, traffic, greenhouse gas impacts, wildfire risks, noise
Steam Donkey THP Section 5 – [42 MB, 351 pages] Attachments: Including soil erosion hazards, Erosion Control Plan, slash treatment, Northern Spotted Owl information, botanical survey; list of adjacent landowners who received domestic water supply letters (pp32-43) removed to protect privacy.
Steam Donkey THP Section 6 – [0.1 MB, 1 pages] Archeological information: (confidential)
Steam Donkey THP: Agency Reports & RPF Responses
Dec. 27, 2023: Department of Fish & Wildlife – [0.1 MB, 7 pages]
Jan. 3, 2024: Water Quality Control Board – [0.2 MB, 6 pages]
Jan. 10, 2024: California Geological Survey – [9.7 MB, 20 pages]
Jan. 11, 2024: CalFire Dept. of Forestry – [1.4 MB, 13 pages]
Jan. 27, 2024: CalFire Dept. of Forestry + 22 Recommendations – [1.4 MB, 16 pages]
Feb. 5, 2024: GRT Forester’s Responses to Agency Questions – [40 MB, 206 pages]
Feb. 15, 2024: Questions from 2nd Review Team Meeting – [1.3 MB, 2 pages]
Feb. 23, 2024: GRT Forester’s Responses to 2nd Review Questions – [18.6 MB, 51 pages]
Feb. 29, 2024: Review Team Recommends Approval of THP – [0.3 MB, 1 page]
Apr. 10, 2024: CalFire Letter of Conformance (Approval) – [1.2 MB, 1 page]
Apr. 10, 2024: Official Response to Public Comments – [0.4 MB, 18 pages]
To download additional documents for this logging plan,
visit the Steam Donkey THP page on the CalTREES website.
The public comment period has ended. Below are instructions on
how to submit comments during the public comment period.
To submit your comments on a logging plan, email your comments to: santarosapubliccomment@fire.ca.gov
or send your comments via U.S. Mail to:
Forest Practice
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
135 Ridgway Ave.
Santa Rosa, CA 95401
In the subject line of your email message, or at the top of your letter,
be sure to reference the THP number and name, for example:
THP 1-23-00099-SON “Steam Donkey”
