[Sosfbay-discuss] Voices for the Woods: Fr. front page news in The Los Gatos News

[JamBoi]

Following up on Tian's call for letters by Feb 7th, and Cameron's call
for the GP getting involved and on record against this proposal...

Voices for the woods

Environmentalists gathered Wednesday in front of a meeting where
officials debated logging in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

http://thelosgatosnews.net/article/2007-2-2-lg-logging

Friday Feb 2

Activists rail against water firm's logging plan

By Kristen Munson / LGN Staff
Opponents of a proposed logging plan in the Santa Cruz Mountains have
unveiled what they call "ironclad proof" San Jose Water Co. cannot
legally obtain a permit to log 1,002 acres of the Los Gatos Creek
watershed.

Members of the grass-roots group, Neighbors Against Irresponsible
Logging, used laptops set up outside a public hearing Wednesday to show
aerial photographs and digital maps of the 6,500 acres the water
company owns in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

They believe their findings demonstrate that the company owns 2,754
acres of timberland - 254 acres more than it can own and be eligible
for the sort of logging permit the company is seeking from the
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

"This is even an underestimate," said Adelia Barber, a doctoral student
at University of California, Santa Cruz.

Barber used Google Earth to map the land and designate areas of redwood
and Douglas fir trees as timberland.

Previous analysis

Matt Dias, the forester who helped write the logging proposal, said the
issue was already addressed when the water company submitted the
non-industrial timber management plan to the state Department of
Forestry and Fire Protection. Big Creek Lumber forestry staff conducted
its own analysis using air photo interpretation and determined that the
company owns about 2,000 acres of timberland, Dias wrote in an e-mail
Thursday.

The water company submitted the plan to log the watershed after an
inspection showed the unmanaged forest was a fire hazard. Officials say
by thinning the forest, fire hazards on the land will be reduced and
water quality will be improved.

Log, then grow

Under the plan, the watershed would be divided into nine sections to be
logged once every 15 years for a six-week period. Before an area could
be logged again, the amount harvested must first grow back.

But hundreds of mountain residents and their supporters attended a
hearing at the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors' office
Wednesday to voice their concerns about the plan. For four hours, they
claimed it increases the risk of fire and landslides, reduces water
quality and limits access to roads to small communities in the hills.

"These lifelines must be preserved," mountain resident Morgan Kessler
said. "I'm nothing short of appalled (at) this plan moving forward."

But, a handful of people lauded the logging plan.

"When I heard it was Big Creek Lumber, I knew (the plan) was good,"
said Sue Holt, professor of environmental science at Cabrillo College.

Holt visited one of the logging company's previously harvested areas
and urged residents to tour one of the sites.

Logging practices in Santa Clara County are among "the best in the
world," she said, adding that responsible logging reduces the need to
import timber from Canada where standards are not as stringent.

Lowell Webb, a 70-year resident of the mountains, urged the department
to approve the plan if it meets state standards.

"I don't think San Jose Water Co. is shooting itself in the foot like
some say," he said. "Not everyone is involved with what NAIL has to say
even though we live in the same place."

The revenue generated from logging - estimated to be $500,000 every
other year - will fund fire mitigation treatments for the rest of the
watershed land the company owns, officials said.

"We believe it to be a sound, prudent, and necessary long-term land
management plan that will ultimately benefit the company, community and
environment," said John Tang, community projects liaison for the water
company.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection is not
expected to make a decision on the logging plan until the spring.

E-mail Kristen Munson at kmunson at dailynewsgroup.com. 

___________________

JamBoi
Jammy The Sacred Cow Slayer

"Live humbly, laugh often and love unconditionally" (anon)
http://dailyJam.blogspot.com


 
____________________________________________________________________________________
Never Miss an Email
Stay connected with Yahoo! Mail on your mobile.  Get started!
http://mobile.yahoo.com/services?promote=mail