Forests Forever Press Release
For
Immediate Release:
Tuesday, May 13, 2003
Contacts:
Paul Hughes, Andria Strickley 415/ 974-3636
Logging set
to begin in largest state-owned forest
Two forest advocacy groups have requested a temporary restraining order
to stop logging in 50,000-acre Jackson State Forest. The request is scheduled
for a hearing in Mendocino County Superior Court Thursday.
Forests Forever Foundation and the Campaign to Restore Jackson State Redwood
Forest requested the restraining order to stop the California Department
of Forestry (CDF) from proceeding with two timber harvests encompassing
more than 900 acres. The "Brandon Gulch" and "Camp 3"
harvests, which the state Board of Forestry approved in January, could
begin any day.
Planned for the heart of Jackson’s recreation area, the harvests
would cut some of the forest’s oldest, most ecologically significant
trees.
"CDF is rushing ahead with this logging even though both projects
would be affected by the outcome of our lawsuit," said Forests Forever
Foundation Executive Director Paul Hughes. "They want to cut these
trees, the best available at Jackson, so they won’t later be the
subject of controversy."
Two years ago, litigation caused CDF to comply with state law and update
its management plan for the forest, which is located between the towns
of Mendocino and Ft. Bragg. Logging came to a temporary halt while the
agency revised the plan and commissioned an environmental impact report
(EIR) to accompany it.
In November 2002 the Board of Forestry approved the new plan and the accompanying
EIR. However, the EIR failed to meet basic guidelines mandated under the
California Environmental Quality Act.
In October 2002, Forests Forever Foundation and the Campaign to Restore
Jackson State Redwood Forest sued CDF over the EIR’s shortcomings.
One of the most significant of these deficiencies was the EIR’s
failure to evaluate the cumulative effects of the proposed logging operations
in the context of past, present, and planned logging in the area.
"The redwood forests in the area surrounding Jackson have been logged
to oblivion," Hughes said. "CDF is working on getting Jackson
to the same place, with industrial-scale cutting. Just because Jackson
is in better shape than surrounding lands does not justify hitting it
with further abuse."
The lawsuit is scheduled to go to court July 7.
Owned by the citizens of California, Jackson contains thousands of acres
of second-growth redwoods between 80 and 110 years old. If restored, the
forest could return to conditions replicating old-growth, providing critical
habitat for sensitive species and an oasis of wilderness in increasingly
urbanized Northern California. Instead, CDF has conducted large-scale
commercial harvests in Jackson, historically generating about $15 million
in annual revenue.
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