[CRNMC] Get active to save our forests

Wed Dec 17 15:24:37 PST 2014

Great email, but when I went to the website a message said there was no
such file etc.
Agnes

> 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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