[CRNMC] Get active to save our forests

Tue Dec 16 17:24:53 PST 2014

Hey Community Lovers - Concerned about your forests?
BE AFRAID .. or be active!!

Mendocino Redwood Co (MRC) is on a run - Albion with THP080 at Railroad
Gulch (758 Acres), THP114 at Tombell Flats (710 acres) THP115 in Barton
Gulch (429 acres) and THP125 in Elk Creek (1463 acres) for a total of
~3360 acres in one harvest year - in a 20 mile stretch of coast - and
there are more on the Navarro - not the local energy to even track;
never mind confront.

There is a small group attending to THP 080 in Albion Railroad Gulch but
the magnitude and unwillingness of Mendocino Redwood Co to talk
constructively about  the scale and intensity of the cut is really
frustrating.  Railroad Gulch was devastated by railroad logging up to a
hundred years ago - the tie making industry took all the trees out of
Railroad Gulch and then left when the market dried up. Looks like MRC is
about to try that one again; but send the last coastal stand of100+ year
old Redwoods to the posh deck making industry.

The trees in Railroad Gulch are essentially invaluable because they
condense rain out of the moist Pacific air and irrigate the valley
reducing fire danger and freshening the streams where our endangered
Coho, threatened Steelhead , and virtually disappeared Chinook reproduce
and go back to the sea. Links to the endangered salmonid history are in
the THP comment below if you with to become informed - we have spoken to
NMFS and they do listen well.

Pardon me for my pessimism; I've spent 37 years wandering through these
woods on foot and bike.  I've watched many 100 year old stands become
kindling; and giants fall.  My earth church is Montgomery Woods where I
can commune with a few old ones for some essence of timelessness.

Don't get me wrong; I understand the need for "stuff" in our lives, I do
not understand taking it all so bad that it can't recover - especially
in a time where the trees have purposes other than chump change for the
1% greedy ones.  The 1976 Zeeberg-Negedly (sp) forest practice act
clearly defines the need for "sustainable forestry" but the forest
practice rules seem to have lost its direction (or political morality)
and are supporting the wholesale destruction of our forests; someone is
putting money in their pockets unethically.

But I do go on. We do have some responsibility as community to protect
our forests before they are so diminished that they cannot maintain our
coastal ecology. The few folks who are working on these issues are in
need of new perspectives and people energy.  We are all responsible as
community and need to rise to the occasion and be strongly heard by the
system and the community. I respectfully ask that you examine Your
spirit, look at the example submission below and send your own comment
with your own words to CalFire and cc whatever list you are involved in.
This results in a commitment to both the forest and community which you
can rely on when the next THP is close to you and your forest neighborhood.
If we don't respond now they'll take it all and we will fail ourselves,
our community and the planet.   Please do not wait.. Time is short

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THP info /ftp://thp.fire.ca.gov/THPLibrary/North_Coast_Region/THPs2014//

-------------------------------------------------------------

Leslie Markham
Deputy Chief
Forest Practice
CalFire
135 Ridgway Avenue
Santa Rosa CA 95401
<  <mailto:santarosapubliccomment at fire.ca.gov>
santarosapubliccomment at fire.ca.gov  <mailto:
santarosapubliccomment at fire.ca.gov>>  <mailto:
santarosapubliccomment at fire.ca.gov>

Re THP 1-14-080 MEN, Mendocino Redwood Company on Albion Railroad Gulch

Dear Ms Markham,

Albion Railroad Gulch is a unique sub-watershed on the Albion river
surrounded by the Albion community. The mouth of Railroad Gulch is
located ~2.5 miles up the Albion and consists of a wide estuary that
also drains Pleasant Valley with superb nursery conditions and ready
access to the tidal portion of the lower Albion.

This 758 acre THP proposes to take over 2/3 of themarketabletrees in the
majority (MRC's words from the THP)  watershed in a single harvest
making this one of the highest impact single plans in recent history.
One result of this extensive cut is to dramatically increase the fire
risk in proximity to the surrounding community. MRC management has been
unresponsive to alternative "brush" management by the community which
would mitigate the fire risks and improve/add value to a sustained forest.

The Albion main stem is blocked during the majority of water flow
conditions some 300-400 feet further upstream due to a compacted gravel
"bar" that blocks river flow until flood conditions overcome the
barrier. This anomaly isolates certain populations of salmon at certain,
critical phases of their growth.

Railroad Gulch contains over 10 miles of salmon streams with superb
rearing conditions with Eel Grass populations in the first 2 miles of
the main-stem further enhancing salmonid transitional health.

The Albion is a site of an endangered species (Coho) per NOAA/NMFS with
unmet restoration goals. The Albion Coho are said to be one of the few
genetically intact populations left on the middle north coast. Steelhead
population is threatened as is Chinook which has gone 0 counts for the
last 2 years.

http://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/publications/recovery_planning/salmon_steelhead/domains/north_central_california_coast/central_california_coast_coho/albion_ii.pdf

and:

http://www.casalmon.org/salmon-snapshots/history/albion-river

Please note fictitious/specious salmonid returns projected without basis
or record for 1+ year prior history to current year and the two
presentations are not consistent. Steelhead and Chinook counts and
returns/counts are mystical and unreliable to the public as to their
origins and status.

Additionally, quantity and quality of water is further jeopardized by a
710 acre THP (114) located ~2miles up the sediment degraded Albion
main-stem from THP 080.

/Conclusion/: Any one of the aforementioned conditions could result in a
Coho take. Any combination would represent an extremely high risk of
extirpation of Coho and damage to the associated ecosystem. These events
are obviously in contrast with the responsibilities of the "Owners" to
steward their forests and successfully maintain endangered species
mandate. Continuing on this path will lead to inevitable, irremediable
damage on the part of MRC with the consent of CalFire, CA Water Quality,
CA Fish & Wildlife and NMFS in violation of spirit and intent of the
1976 Forest Practice Act and the Endangered Species Act

The only acceptable action for this THP is rejection and reordering
towards a sustainable harvesting regimen; preferably in league with the
community as MRC stated to our community in their purchase of this
forest land.

/
BC Macdonald  37 year Albion resident and forest witness
POB69, Albion, CA 95410
707-937-4352/
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