How Forests Can Be Protected

A local forest at risk is now protected through the actions of partnering good stewards.  The San Lorenzo Valley Water District agreed on a conservation easement for the Molosky Creek Forest that will prohibit logging in perpetuity.

 

Santa Cruz Sentinel

 

May 20, 2006 

Sempervirens to sell Malosky Forest

The Sempervirens Fund announced yesterday it will sell a portion of the Lompico Headlands to the San Lorenzo Valley Water District.

The land, called Malosky Creek Forest, is about 190 acres and is surrounded by water district land. The district serves 17,500 residents in the Boulder Creek area.

This $1.7 million sale creates a contiguous tract of government land, and will prevent silt from construction from entering the watershed, fund officials said in a statement.

The Sempervirens Fund, which buys redwood forests on behalf of public land, hopes the sale will offset the costs of the $5.6 million purchase of the wider Lompico Headlands earlier this year.

To date, the fund has only raised $250,000, and it has just two months to raise the remaining $3.5 million to complete of the purchase. If the group doesn't raise the full amount, it will borrow the rest and pay interest, fund executive director Brian Steen said in the statement. The Lompico Headlands purchase was too important to pass up, he said.

The 425-acre Lompico Headlands are just north of Felton and Ben Lomond. Cut by loggers in the last century, the forest is second growth and plays an important role in controlling erosion.

Terry Clark
May 22, 2006