Another Sonoma County Forest bites the dust, needs YOU to act
As Robert Swan said: "The biggest threat to our planet is that someone else will save it".
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Critical Wild Coho Salmon Watershed
Threatened By Aggressive Logging Plan
June 21, 2017, Healdsburg, CA — As wild Coho salmon have disappeared in every tributary of
the Russian River watershed over the past decades, Felta Creek remains the rare exception.
Even in the low fish years of 2006 and 2008, endangered wild Coho salmon survived in the
shady pools of this boulder strewn west county stream. This spring, UC researchers discovered
multiple spawning beds, or “redds,” in the creek’s gravel bars. But the fate of this fragile habitat
now lies in the hands of an absentee landowner with an aggressive logging agenda.
In late 2015, Humboldt County resident Ken Bareilles bought a 160-acre Timberland Production
Zone property that includes a core section of Felta Creek’s headwaters. Bareilles, a logger and
lawyer, filed a Timber Harvest Plan with CalFire (the California Department of Forestry). It
appears CalFire is poised to approve the plan — THP 1-17-017 SON (Fox Meadows).
The fact that Bareilles’ plan progressed this far this quickly has alarmed both professionals and
community members. Of the 160-acre property, registered forester Randy Jacobszoon’s plan
calls for logging on 146 acres. Of that, 130 acres are slated for Group Selection and Transition
Harvest — essentially, multi-acre patch cuts. According to the California Geological Survey, "site
slopes range from 10 to 80 percent gradients … geologic mapping identifies dormant and active
deep-seated landslides as underlying the plan area.” How will heavy equipment, logging and
hauling affect a slide-prone landscape?
"I have reviewed logging plans in Sonoma County for over 20 years, and this is one of the
worst,” says Larry Hanson, president of Forest Unlimited. “There is the delicate and biologically
important stream that runs through it. And there are critical safety issues related to school
children and to local residents who use the one-lane gravel Felta Creek Road to get in and out
of their homes.”
The National Marine Fisheries Service, recognizing the need to protect this watershed,
recommended a more selective approach to limit erosion and preserve more of the forest
canopy. In a public meeting on Thursday June 15, 2017, it was noted that one of NMFS’s
primary recommendations made it into the final plan. Anthony Lukacic, the CalFire official in
charge of recommending the proposed timber harvest plan for approval, said he considered but
rejected others, deciding that CalFire’s Forest Practice Rules would suffice if adequately
implemented.
According to Russian Riverkeeper, the stakes couldn’t be higher. “Losing one of the single best
juvenile Coho salmon habitats on Felta Creek that get baby Coho through the hot summer
months would be a massive blow,” says Don McEnhill, the group’s president.
Community members and county officials are also alarmed by the scope of the proposed
hauling operation. The landowner claims an easement to use Felta Creek Road, a private onelane
gravel road that winds immediately adjacent to Felta Creek. Four full-time families reside
there amidst some grape cultivation. The use and maintenance of this rural road have been
sufficient to balance light traffic and the health of the fishery. But Felta Creek Road has never
been used for hauling of the proposed scale of this timber operation.
The plan does not disclose or limit the number of logging trucks or the time of day that logging
trucks will use Felta Creek Road. There are sharp turns around big trees, few turnouts, waterfall
crossings and seeps, a mile-plus section of road susceptible to sedimentation of the creek. At
the bottom is West Side School, with over 170 students, some who walk down Felta Creek
Road to attend classes. Most students and families commute via Felta Road, a publicly
maintained county road where school traffic is already congested.
No traffic impact or safety studies of the hauling operation were completed as part of the timber
harvest plan. At the June 15 public meeting, CalFire’s Lukacic asserted that the hauling
operation was a civil matter. A licensed structural engineer requested that a lower wooden
bridge be inspected to assess its structural integrity. And numerous concerns about
sedimentation of the creek as well as fire and public safety issues have all been filed during the
public comment period, set to close on Monday, June 26.
What could all this mean for the one of last recognized refuges for wild Coho salmon in the
entire Russian River watershed? One local timber operator who reviewed the plan predicted:
“this is going to be ugly.”
One official at the CalFire meeting, expressed her agency’s concern about the THP applicant’s
record: a cleanup and abatement order with the Regional Water Quality Control Board in 2002,
as well as previous CalFire violations.
The 160-acre TPZ-zoned property also happens to be for sale. This means a buyer, or coalition
of buyers, could potentially prevent logging in this critical watershed.
“There has to be a better way,” says Felta Creek Road resident Dan Imhoff. “Deforesting the
hills around one of Sonoma County’s finest creeks makes no sense.” Imhoff and his wife,
Quincey Tompkins Imhoff, helped organize “Friends of Felta Creek” to advocate for the health
and protection of the watershed and surrounding community.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Documents related to the plan can be accessed at
ftp://thp.fire.ca.gov/THPLibrary/North_Coast_Region/THPs/THPs2017/1-17-017SON/
Public Comments can be submitted until June 26 at
[email protected].
Tax exempt donations can be made to
Forest Unlimited for the “Friends of Felta Creek.”
Contact 707.303.6091 for more information.
Re: Another Sonoma County Forest bites the dust, needs YOU to act
Step right up make a plan and 'rape the land. the only thing the residents of 'Felta Creek can do is research and find out who paid who off to get even this far in the process.
nothing is sacred - everything has a price- and if it takes steamrolling over the bucolic countryside and people along with it to make the almighty dollar then that's the price the good people of SoCo will pay unless they Fight with every ounce of strength they have left to defeat these robber barons.
Quote:
Posted in reply to the post by O.W.:
...
Critical Wild Coho Salmon Watershed
Threatened By Aggressive Logging Plan
June 21, 2017, Healdsburg, CA — As wild Coho salmon have disappeared in every tributary of
the Russian River watershed over the past decades, Felta Creek remains the rare exception....
Re: Another Sonoma County Forest bites the dust, needs YOU to act
Quote:
Posted in reply to the post by O.W.:
...
Critical Wild Coho Salmon Watershed
Threatened By Aggressive Logging Plan
June 21, 2017, Healdsburg, CA — As wild Coho salmon have disappeared in every tributary of
the Russian River watershed over the past decades, Felta Creek remains the rare exception....
This sounds absolutely HORRIBLE! Please, some local rich person/persons get together and buy and preserve this forest NOW!!
