The Sierra Forest Voice
Web Edition
Vol. 3, No. 1 April 21, 2009
~Celebrate John Muir's Birthday and Earth Day~
Mill Closures
In March this year, 663,000 people lost their jobs in America, bringing the total job losses over the past year to 5.1 million. The recession has not spared the timber industry in California's Sierra Nevada. With the recent announcements of pending closure of lumber mills and lay-offs in Quincy, Camino, Sonora and elsewhere, the buck is coming to its final resting place at the door of an industry that made billions of dollars from the housing bubble in the last decade, while converting their Sierra Nevada timberlands into sterile, monoculture tree farms.
While it is tragic that millions of people have lost their jobs due to the crash of fraudulent financial schemes, it is also tragic that millions of acres of forest habitat throughout North America have been turned into two-by-fours to build houses that are now standing empty. Big timber has been a major beneficiary of the worst financial fraud in American history. It is time for a new model for forest management in the Sierra Nevada and new partnerships that are science-based, respectful and collaborative. That day is coming.
Sierra Forest Legacy has been working for nearly fifteen years to hold back the destruction of our national forest lands in the Sierra Nevada, to preserve sufficient habitat to maintain wildlife and the natural processes that protect and sustain them. While we have been successful at holding back a flood of illegal and unsustainable proposals under the Bush administration, we have also supported many forest thinning projects on federal land to restore Sierran forests.
During this time, we also launched our FireWise Communities USA program in the Sierra to help protect communities from forest fire. We're actively engaged in promoting small scale, locally placed enterprises utilizing forest fiber that can be sustainably thinned from our forests.
Such enterprises can provide jobs while helping to restore forests to be resilient to future fires, drought, and disease, all of which are predicted to increase due to global warming. It is essential in this historical time period to protect the carbon storage potential of our Sierra forests. Now is not the time to weaken regulatory restraints on the kind of logging that has historically resulted in degraded forest habitats, polluted water supplies, and hotter, drier forest conditions that increase wildlfire risk.
Finding the Balance...Jobs in the Woods
Workers are certainly not to blame in this economic crisis. Workers have suffered booms and busts throughout the history of the timber industry in response to speculation-driven building. Legislation fueled by campaign contributions from industry lobbyists has certainly played a role in driving recent booms. It remains to be seen now if lobbying, financial incentives and subsidies will fire up the industry once again. Bold visionary leadership is required to reject business as usual and the failed policies of the past. We need green jobs that will provide lasting security for families while also securing a future for our forests.
It's essential to find the right balance between thinning for forest resiliency to fire and drought, maintaining ecological processes and habitat for wildlife, while at the same time producing products that can generate income in Sierra communities. Government subsidies that merely prolong an unsustainable and ecologically disastrous industry should be condemned. Federal funding should benefit the workers and families within forest communities by stimulating competition and diversification of small and appropriately scaled businesses, as opposed to policies which benefit and consolidate power in the hands of one or two timber companies tied to housing booms and speculative investments.
The recent mill closures may lead to some new, refreshing thinking about restoration work and how it gets paid for. There is currently significant interest in creating new biomass to energy infrastructure in California. We will have to be diligent about overseeing industrial propensity to overshoot sustainability guideposts, but we should also not be afraid of exploring new sustainable technologies and partnerships that could be a big part of the solution to increasing forest resiliency while supporting the "greening" of rural economies.
What are Fuels Treatments All About?
Karina Silvas, Firewise Communities Program Coordinator
I recently came across an article written in the Forest Ecology and Management Journal. I felt that it has great significance in the community forestry and fire protection realm that Sierra Forest Legacy is working in with the Firewise Program, and our efforts to return fire to the Sierra Nevada forests. The following is a brief summary of the paper.
There is an increasing amount of vegetation manipulation going on within the Sierra Nevada via the use of shaded fuel breaks, and other mechanical treatments to reduce fuel loads. It is widely known in the fire suppression field that these fuel breaks are not meant to stop the fire from burning in the treatment area, but rather they are a way for suppression crews to light back burns in attempts to slow the fire's advance. As agency personnel continue to utilize fuel breaks, it is important for communities to understand the true value fuels treatments may have for their communities.
The authors' conclusions are summed up as follows: 1) Wildlands cannot be fire-proofed, 2) Fuels treatments in wildlands should focus on creating conditions in which fire can occur without devastating consequences, rather than creating conditions conducive to fire suppression, 3) Even extensive fuels treatments may not reduce the amount of area burnt over the long-term and furthermore, reduction of area burnt may actually be an undesirable outcome, 4) Fuels treatments should not be driven by a primary objective of reducing fire's rate of spread, 5) Treating fuels may not reduce suppression expenditures, and 6) Treating fuels may not improve ecosystem health.
It is important for land managers to understand the outcomes of treatments they are producing at the landscape level, and this peer-reviewed paper may help put landscape level treatments into perspective. If in fact the goal of these treatments is to reduce fuels and restore ecosystems, we should be reintroducing landscape scale fire back into these areas. Fire is a natural process, and if allowed to burn when conditions are favorable and effective we will be able to achieve hazard mitigation in our forests, ecosystem health, and public safety.
Download the paper:
Reinhardt, E.D., R.E. Keane, D.E. Calkin, and J.D. Cohen. 2008. Objectives and considerations for wildland fuel treatment in forested ecosystems of the interior western United States. Forest Ecology and Management 256 (2008) 1997-2006
Read more fire science on our website, and learn more about our community protection programs here.
Sugarberry Victory - Habitat Saved on the Plumas National Forest
by Darça Morgan, Conservation Biologist
The Sierra Forest Legacy celebrated a victory this spring on behalf of old forests in the Plumas National Forest, when we were successful in our recent appeal to stop the Sugarberry logging project. We have been advocating for stronger environmental protections since the project was first proposed in 2005. Sierra Forest Legacy pointed out that the environmental impact statement (EIS) for the project did not comply with federal law. A Forest Service review team reviewed Sierra Forest Legacy's appeal and agreed with us that environmentally responsible alternatives to the proposed logging were improperly dismissed by the Forest Service for arbitrary and speculative reasons and they shut down the project, at least for now.
The 3,390 acre Sugarberry project included 1,400 acres of group selection and 2,000 acres of fuel breaks where hazardous surface and ladder fuels, along with larger, fire resistant trees would have been axed. Group selection logging involves cutting all trees less than 2½ feet wide and ends up looking like a clear-cut. This industrial forestry practice pocks the landscape with forest openings, fragmenting old forest habitat. Group selection also requires miles of new logging roads that wash sediment into local drinking water and favorite fishing holes. The Forest Service estimated that Sugarberry would push five sub-watersheds to the brink of cumulative watershed impacts deemed undesirable by the agency, and would push one sub-watershed over the threshold. Yet, logging was still boldly proposed throughout the project area.
The Forest Service justified their destructive practices claiming the project would make a $350,000 profit and would address fuels and "forest health concerns." In real terms, this meant that the national forest decided to provide prized large trees for the lumber mills, and to log older fir and pine trees because they might eventually crowd each other competing for water. While we certainly agree that some forests, especially ones at low elevation dominated by white fir, can sometimes grow too dense in the absence of fire, logging mature pine and widely spaced fir trees makes no ecological sense. The agency's own wildlife biologist concluded that Sugarberry would degrade 3,295 acres of prime habitat for sensitive forest carnivores like fisher and marten. Aggressive logging of large trees was not justified in this project.
Spotted owl habitat was also going to take a big hit in the Sugarberry project. The project threatened thousands of acres of owl foraging and nesting habitat and 1,000 acres within known spotted owl breeding territories. We argued that logging within breeding territories is particularly harmful, because this habitat constitutes the best available habitat in the closest proximity to their nests where the most concentrated owl foraging activity is likely to occur. We asked that the Forest Service consider owl scientists Dr. J. A. Blakesley's advice to avoid logging of large trees which further reduces owl survival. The Forest Service office proposing the Sugarberry project showed little concern for negative impacts to old forests, sensitive species and clean water that they admitted the project would cause.
All told, it was the lack of alternatives that a regional Forest Service review team decided was the project's shortfall. The Sugarberry FEIS considered three action alternatives, in addition to the no action alternative. However, Sierra Forest Legacy pointed out that the alternatives differed by only 30 acres of treatment out of about 3,390 acres. The alternatives were the same in terms of canopy cover and diameter limits for tree removal, and restoration of wildlife, aquatic, and riparian ecosystems. We reminded the Forest Service that NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) and the CEQ (Council on Environmental Quality) regulations require that the Forest Service "rigorously explore and objectively evaluate" all reasonable alternatives to their proposed projects. NEPA also "requires that federal agencies take a 'hard look' at the environmental consequences of their actions." A Forest Service review team found that environmentally responsible alternatives were improperly dismissed "for speculative reasons for which there were no analytical support in project record...[And] on the basis of generalized statements," or because of "economic and logistical considerations...not directly tied to the purpose and need statements."
Today, we are relieved that the Forest Service's regional office decided to put the Sugarberry project on the shelf for now. We are hopeful that new stimulus funding and direction from President Obama will provide the necessary leadership for responsible fuels reduction and forest protection in the Sierra Nevada.
Georgetown Conservation Community Wildfire Protection Plan Underway
by David Jaramillo, Registered Professional Forester #2839
The Sierra Nevada CCWPP Guidebook, created to empower communities to plan for wildfire while focusing on long term ecological goals and community values, is used to guide this planning process. The guidebook was developed with a large coalition of partners led by Tracy Katelman (ForeverGreen Forestry), the Sierra Nevada Conservation Community Wildfire Protection Plan Guidebook was completed with financial support from our conservation partner, Resources Legacy Fund Foundation in 2007. Coalition partners included Kate Dargan (State Fire Marshal), Jay Watson (California Fire Safe Council), Sierra Forest Legacy and many others who helped guide the direction as well as provide feedback and expertise for the document. For more information regarding CCWPP's please visit our website.
Three community meetings have been held for distinct planning areas within the Georgetown Fire Protection District (which is the second oldest district in California), including Spanish Dry Diggings, Georgetown, Volcanoville and Quintette. Each of these planning areas have been heavily altered by mining and continue to be changed/damaged by clear-cut forestry practices and development, all of which increase the dangers of wildfire to citizens. The importance of gathering local knowledge of community values, risks and hazards is critical in the development of a successful plan and the reason for the specific community meetings.
The development of the Georgetown CCWPP will involve the commitment and requires acceptance by a minimum of the local Fire Chief, CalFire and the Board of Supervisors. We are excited about this opportunity to work towards the goals of our organization and the constituents that we represent.
Species Profile: Olive-Sided Flycatcher
The Olive-sided flycatcher (Contopus cooperi) has lost nearly 70% of its population in California in the past forty years. The causes of this decline are thought to be degradation of forest habitat by logging, development, and fire suppression.
It prefers conifer forest with tall, large trees,abundant snags and perches to hunt from with a good view. It also requires habitats with high levels of structural diversity, preferably near meadows or riparian areas. Along with the Wood pewee, the genus Contopus has the lowest rate of reproductive success of all California songbirds.
Quick facts:
- Eats bark beetles, wasps and bees preferentially
- Neotropical migrant wintering in Panama and the Andes
- Estimated home range 111 acres
- Its call is described as "Quick, Three Beers" or "Now See Here"
Read more about the Olive-sided Flycatcher here on our website
News Bytes from the Front
~Jim Brobeck interview on KCHO April 10
Jim Brobeck, our senior Fire Safe Council member, recently participated in a KCHO
(NPR affiliate for Northern Sacramento Valley) talk show interview on
forest management in the Sierra and the role of the Quincy Library Group
legislation that is impacting Forest Service decisions. Jim did a great
job of defending Sierra Forest Legacy's vision for Sierran forests and
the need for small diameter thinning and controlled fire as key restoration tools. Great job Jim!
Among his many other roles, Jim is also on the executive committee of the Butte County Fire Safe Council, and coordinates the Council's community chipper activities in Cohasset which helps residents create "defensible space" on their forest properties.
~Forest Plan Revisions
The Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit is planning to release the region's first draft forest plan prepared under the 2008 NFMA revisions. We'll post more information on our website as it becomes available. SF Legacy has been busy organizing and partnering with member groups and specialists, along with the Forest Service, to help steer the process. Forest Plan revisions will guide management protocols for the Sierra Nevada for the next two decades.
~MIS Lawsuit Update
The coalition legal challenge to the Forest Service's adoption of the MIS Amendment is currently being briefed before Judge Conti in the Northern District of California District Court. The matter is set for argument before Judge Conti on August 14, 2009.
~Framework Lawsuit Update
We are still waiting for the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to rule on our case and we expect that positive decision any day.
The case was originally filed in early 2005 and is on appeal with a highly respected panel of federal judges. A decision against the Bush Administration's dismantling of the 2001 Framework will redirect the Forest Service to implement the Clinton-era
plan to protect old growth forests and at-risk wildlife, while focusing projects near communities at risk from uncharacteristic wildfire.
~Global Warming Updates
Check out our website for the latest reports and science research papers relevant to global warming and the forests of the Sierra Nevada. The California Climate Action Team has also released its draft 2009 report to the Governor. The Forestry Protocol can be downloaded, and you'll also find excellent recent reports from Defenders of Wildlife, The Wilderness Society, and other conservation partners.
We are actively engaged in reading and reviewing the latest science, as we move closer to adopting a clear policy position to ensure that "business as usual" doesn't emerge as the guiding forest policy in California relative to climate change. There are dangerous signals that this is the direction the state is headed, due to influence by the forest products industry.
Sierra Forest Legacy Bookshelf
Here's what we've been reading lately--and we think that you might enjoy, too.
Salvage Logging and Its Ecological Consequences by David B. Lindenmayer, Philip J. Burton, and Jerry F. Franklin. Island Press, 2008.
This much needed and excellent summary discussion of the effects of salvage logging ("salvage logging" is the harvest of trees after fire) can be summed up by this quote: "Salvage logging and other post-disturbance practices can have profound negative impacts on ecological processes and biodiversity. Salvage logging will rarely, if ever, contribute in a direct or positive way to ecological recovery; generally it can be viewed as a tax on ecological recovery that can be large or small depending on how it is conducted." -p. 168.
The Vanishing Face of Gaia by James Lovelock. Basic Books, 2009.
Lovelock is known best for the Gaia theory, which likens the earth to a superorganism, capable of self-regulating its climate and atmosphere to promote conditions that favor life. At age 90, Lovelock demonstrates that the climate situation is significantly worse than the IPPC "consensus" model, and recommends policy changes that emphasize adaptation to enhance survival for people and the rest of the biome. Lovelock is opposed to tree farming schemes: "Agriculture in total has climate effects comparable with those caused by fossil fuel combustion. For this reason it would seem better to pay the inhabitants of forested regions to preserve their trees than plant new trees on cleared ground... While natural ecosystems have the capacity to evolve with climate change, plantations can easily die."
American Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau Edited by Bill McKibben, Foreward by Al Gore. The Library of America, 2008.
This volume is a one-stop education in the history of environmental writing and conservation, captured in essays, poems, cartoons, and speeches. The compilation covers writers from throughout the poetic, political, philosophical, and scientific spectrum of nature writing.
Help Protect Our Sierra Nevada Forests
The work we do to protect the forests, with all of their unique and rare plants and animals, and the many wild places of the Range of Light cannot be done without the generosity of our supporters. Please help us to keep up our efforts. You can make a safe and secure donation from this website. Thanks to all who have so generously supported our work - together we form a multitude of voices. Join us in saying, "Si, se puede" on behalf of the wild forests of the Sierra Nevada.
"A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it does otherwise."
~Aldo Leopold