Logging the Old Growth Forest on Haupt Creek

Except for a few scattered trees, there is almost no old growth redwood remaining in the Gualala River watershed. In fact, there is very little in all of Sonoma County. Almost every forested acre has been cut at least once in the past 150 years.

By destroying part of the last remaining old growth habitat in the watershed, the proposed logging would threaten the survival of the local populations of birds, animals and plants dependent on old growth forest. We can’t let that happen.

THP 1-00-484 SON
The landowner, Harold Richardson, applied to CDF to log 44 acres of old growth coastal redwood forest sloping into the steep inner gorge of Haupt Creek. This land is part of the extensive holdings of the Richardson family in the area, of which about 800 acres are old growth redwood and Douglas fir forest, which have been in their family for over 100 years. The Richardsons are known in the area as good stewards of their land.

The proposed logging threatened to damage habitat for coho salmon and steelhead in Haupt Creek. It would have begun logging of the last remaining major stand of old growth coastal redwood forest in Sonoma County, threatening important refugia for diverse species, including marbled murrelet, northern spotted owl, Sonoma tree vole and numerous isolated relict populations of vascular plants, bryophytes, and invertebrates.

Location
The forestland at risk is located about four miles southeast of Stewarts Point, in the northwest corner of Sonoma County (about 100 miles north of San Francisco). The land slopes down into the extremely steep inner gorge of Haupt Creek, a “Class 1” (fish bearing) stream, tributary to the Wheatfield Fork of the Gualala River. Because it is privately owned, there is no public access to the forest.

• Haupt Creek Redux – Recommended for Denial
• Pre-Harvest Inspection Report by Water Quality (.pdf)
• Pre-Harvest Inspection Report by Fish & Game (.pdf)

Once they’re gone, they’re gone forever
Old growth redwood forests once covered vast areas of the northern California coast. Today very little remains of this unique ecosystem. Map of California’s disappearing old growth redwoods: 1800-1996.

Under California law, Water Quality and Fish & Game are responsible for reviewing timber harvest plans to ensure the plans do not result in environmental harm. The role of the Department of Forestry (CDF) is to enforce the California Forest Practice Rules, which require CDF to oversee the review process and coordinate with the other state agencies.

After a series of letters between CDF and the forester, and another on-site inspection, the second (and supposedly final) review team meeting was scheduled for January, 2003. At the last minute that meeting was postponed until April.

Unlike most such meetings, the April review was attended by over forty members of the public — an indication of the depth of public concern over the fate of this old growth forest. In addition to the many local environmental groups represented at the meeting, Assemblymembers Patty Berg and Pat Wiggins and Senator Wes Chesbro sent members of their staff to observe the meeting. Agency staff were on their best behavior, knowing that elected officials, members of the press and the public were paying attention to their actions.

The conclusion of the April meeting was that the forester had not provided sufficient information for the review team to be able to make a determination as to the potential impacts of this logging plan. CDF’s representative said that if he had to make a final decision on the plan as submitted, he would be forced to recommend a denial based on a lack of information.

Water Quality and Fish & Game agreed to submit detailed letters outlining what additional information was required. Water Quality suggested that another inspection would be the most effective way of obtaining some of the required information. CDF then sent a letter to the forester requesting the information needed, and attached the requests from the other agencies.

In May, 2003, a CDF hydrologist conducted an inspection of the plan area; however, CDF did not invite the other agencies to participate in this follow-up inspection. In late June the forester submitted a response to CDF’s request for information. He provided little new information, but argued that the questions were unnecessary and/or wrongly posed.

The second and final review was reconvened on July 31, 2003. Members of the public, representatives of elected officials, and journalists again attended in large numbers.

As with the previous meeting, Dave Hope from Water Quality and Stacy Martinelli and Rick Macedo from Fish and Game stated that they lacked sufficient information to determine the potential environmental impacts of the proposed logging. Review Team Chair Anthony Lukacic from the Department of Forestry agreed that more information was needed for the analysis of old growth forest characteristics. Consequently, he decided he had no choice but to recommend denial of the plan based on lack of information.

On September 5, 2003, Leslie Markham, Deputy Chief of Forest Practice at CDF issued an official denial of THP 1-00-484 SON. Harold Richardson, the landowner, then appealed the denial to the Board of Forestry.