Environment and Ecology, Free News Articles

Investigation Launched into ‘Sustainability’ of Controversial Logging Plans

PETROLIA, Calif. -- The Petrolia-based Lost Coast League (LCL) today announced that the growing controversy over Humboldt Redwood Co.'s (HRC's) plans to log virgin forests at Rainbow Ridge stepped up a notch when auditors for the highly regarded Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) announced they will be reviewing the "sustainable" certification associated with two of the company's key logging plans.

The announcement came late last week in response to a grievance letter filed July 31 by the Lost Coast League (LCL) and signed by some 100 concerned citizens, businesses, organizations and elected officials.

The letter follows decades of protests, intense local debate, and social media acrimony surrounding the potential destruction of some of California's last unprotected and unentered forest stands, located about 25 miles south of Eureka in the headwaters of the Mattole River.

LCL asserts that FSC's coveted "green" label applies only to lumber harvested from HRC's second-growth (cutover) forest stands-meaning that forest products derived from old, primary forests are ineligible for "sustainable" certification. HRC charges more for FSC-labeled "sustainably" sourced lumber in response to demand by eco-conscious consumers.

Robert J. Hrubes, lead investigator with SCS Global Services, FSC's auditing firm, responded to the letter by proposing a method to "ascertain conformity" to FSC standards. This method will involve a field review of the controversial logging plans on Sept. 11.
"May we assume that HRC will preserve the status quo for the operations in question until the investigation is completed?" asked LCL's Ellen Taylor in an email to Hrubes.
"That is a question that you should direct to HRC," Hrubes replied, adding that HRC "is free to take whatever actions they wish to take.
"While I cannot speak for HRC, I expect it is very highly unlikely that any site-disturbing forest management activities will take place in the 'Rainbow Ridge' area prior to the mid-September audit."

"In other words," said Taylor, "there is no guarantee whatsoever that HRC will not log the old trees while the investigation is taking place, thereby voiding the process of investigation."

Any suspension of the controversial logging plans while the SCS investigation takes place would come as welcome news to citizens groups opposed to the destruction of these unique ancient forests situated on steep unstable slopes, and the species that depend upon them.

In recent weeks HRC has escalated tensions by deploying a paramilitary-style security corporation, Lear Asset Management, that has threatened nonviolent protesters with tasers and attack dogs, sought to deprive protesters of sleep by playing loud music and shining bright lights at them at night, and tugging at the "lifelines" that keep them suspended in precarious tree-top perches near the ridge.

"Consumers embrace certified wood because they want to keep the old, original forests standing and preserve their public trust values of water, wildlife and fish," LCL's Michael Evenson said. "They believe certified wood comes from carefully managed second- and third-growth stands without the use of poisons.

"Should HRC cut this forest down before the inquiry is completed HRC will have abandoned any claim to sustainability and be destroying the evidence of a primeval intact ecosystem flourishing on their lands."

For the full text of the grievance letter click here - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BZ2_pTlZntpE-X1T9TCwbDbnuYBSb3zb/view.

About the Lost Coast League:
Founded in 1961 as the Mattole Action Committee, the Lost Coast League is a grassroots organization made up of working professionals pledged to protect the public trust resources of this unique area. Collectively we believe that conserving what is left of our old growth forests-and restoring the vast majority of lands that have already been damaged-is important not only for our local ecosystem, but for the global community as well.

The Lost Coast is home to a vast number of plant and animal species indigenous and only found in the Pacific Northwest. We work closely with board members and consultants from other local non-profit organizations to maintain wildlife values in this region.

Learn more about LCL at: https://www.lostcoastleague.org/

Twitter: @loastcoastleague #rainbowridge #TheLostCoast

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Environment and Ecology, Free News Articles

Mattole Residents file Grievance over Certification of HRC Ancient Forest Logging

PETROLIA, Calif. -- The Petrolia-based Lost Coast League (LCL) on Tuesday filed a formal grievance with SCS Global Services for certifying as sustainable a logging plan by Humboldt Redwood Co. (HRC) on untouched, primary forests in the Mattole River watershed on Rainbow Ridge.

SCS has contracted to review timber companies' practices for the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification program. Firms awarded certification are allowed to brand their lumber as coming from sustainably managed lands. This can bring companies higher prices per unit at lumber yards and preferred market positions.

In the grievance letter the LCL contends that cutting those old forests is a violation of FSC standards, which restrict "sustainable" production to previously managed forests and prohibit the conversion of old, mature forests to plantations.

Secondly, the LCL letter cites FSC standards that require HRC to "use integrated pest management and silviculture systems which avoid, or aim at eliminating, the use of chemical pesticides," clearly limiting herbicide use to what LCL terms "extreme and exceptional circumstances."

To date, however, nearly 25 percent of HRC (and sister company Mendocino Redwood Co, or MRC) holdings have been chemically treated. LCL contends that the timber company is using herbicides well beyond the "extreme and exceptional threshold." (The HRC/MRC website notes 78,000 acres have been treated with herbicides. But more acres have been treated since the time of that assertion -- including some 163 acres of previously un-entered Douglas-fir/mixed hardwood stands at Rainbow Ridge in the Mattole watershed.)

According to LCL President Ellen E. Taylor, "Our efforts to resolve this issue directly with the company have been extensive and fully exhausted. For this reason we seek resolution through the dispute resolution process afforded under SCS and FSC policy."

The League's David Simpson added, "There is a wide community interest in seeing the health of the Mattole watershed restored. Since 1980 many resident landowners, together with state and federal agencies, have committed enormous private and public resources to moving the restoration process forward.

"Logging Rainbow Ridge's native forests cannot qualify as sustainable under any reasonable criteria, especially under FSC's published standards, and would only serve to set back the gains our community's restoration efforts have made."

Filing this letter sets into motion a formal grievance process. SCS has five business days to acknowledge the letter and 14 days to respond as to whether an investigation is warranted and what recourses are available for resolution.

In submitting the letter, LCL is joined by over 40 Mattole residents, as well as the Mattole Salmon Group, members of the Mattole Restoration Council, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC), Ecological Rights Foundation, Institute for Sustainable Forestry, Forests Forever, Californians for Alternatives to Toxics, Julia Butterfly Hill, actor Peter Coyote and more than 50 additional concerned citizens.

About The Lost Coast League:

Founded in 1961 as the Mattole Action Committee, the Lost Coast League is a grassroots organization made up of working professionals pledged to protect the public trust resources of this unique area. Collectively we believe that conserving what is left of our old growth forests-and restoring the vast majority of lands that have already been damaged-is important not only for our local ecosystem, but for the global community as well.

The Lost Coast is home to a vast number of plant and animal species indigenous and only found in the Pacific Northwest. We work closely with board members and consultants from other local non-profit organizations to maintain wildlife values in this region.

Learn more about LCL at: https://www.lostcoastleague.org/.

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This news story was published by the Neotrope® News Network - all rights reserved.

Environment and Ecology, Free News Articles, Legal and Law, NonProfit and Charities

Two Arrested at Civil Disobedience Protest on Rainbow Ridge

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. -- Forests Forever, a non-profit forest protection advocacy group, today announced that five employees of Lear Asset Management, a security contractor for Humboldt Redwood Co. (HRC), swept down on protesters camped near a logging road on Rainbow Ridge in the Mattole River watershed at about 5 a.m. yesterday (July 22).

With tasers drawn the guards forcibly restrained two non-resisting protesters who had refused a request to leave, placing them under citizens arrest and confiscating personal equipment including solar panels and a camera.

The guards contacted the Humboldt County Sheriff's Dept., which arrived on the scene about 8 a.m. and took custody of the arrestees, who were later booked and released with pending court dates. At this writing the road blockade remains in place.

At issue is about 1,100 acres of primary, or ancient, forest consisting of Douglas-fir and diverse hardwoods, as well as natural coastal prairies. The area is vital habitat for listed species including but not limited to the Pacific fisher, pine marten, Northern spotted owl, Northern Goshawk, Golden eagle, Coho salmon, Sonoma tree vole, and the rare fungus agarikon (Fomitopsis officinalis).

Logging of these forests along Rainbow Ridge could take place under two currently approved Timber Harvesting Plans. Opponents of the plans have raised objections about the validity of at least one of these plans, as well as calling into question the "green" certification accorded to HRC by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Not only is HRC logging virgin forest on its lands, but also is poisoning hardwoods through the use of a highly controversial practice known as "hack and squirt." Such practices should disqualify any timber company from FSC certification, critics say.

Rainbow Ridge is run by San Francisco's Sansome Partners, of which the Fisher family (best known for its GAP clothing) are major investors.

On the other side of the fight are citizens groups including the Lost Coast League (LCL), which has undertaken conservation projects in the area since the 1970s. LCL has sought from HRC to permanently protect Rainbow Ridge, outright purchase being one option, but thus far the company has refused.

Rainbow Ridge is bordered to the east by Humboldt Redwoods State Park, home of the Rockefeller Grove, at 9,000 acres the largest contiguous virgin redwood forest remaining in the world. To the west lies the King Range National Conservation Area.

Preservation of Rainbow Ridge would thus safeguard a corridor between the two neighboring areas, providing enormous conservation values in an age of species decline and global warming.

About Forests Forever:

Forests Forever was founded in 1989 during the historic campaign to save the Headwaters ancient redwood forest in Humboldt County, California.

For almost 30 years we have been rallying Calif. in defense of the state's 17 million acres of woodland ecosystems and watersheds. Forests Forever is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization. Our Federal Employer ID Number is 68-0201338. Our website is http://www.forestsforever.org.

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