San Jose Water Company NTMP Logging Plan DENIED!

This is a great victory for the residents of the Santa Cruz Mountains, as well as the forest, creeks and wildlife surrounding us.

On September 25th, 2007, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) ruled that the San Jose Water Company NTMP logging plan application is "INELIGIBLE".

The reason for denial? As NAIL had previously determined and announced at the Public Hearing in January, SJWC owns too many acres of timberland to meet the legal definition of a "Non-industrial tree farmer".

The Details:

• The Forest Practice Act states that a non-industrial tree farmer must own less than 2,500 timberland acres.
• SJWC claimed in their NTMP application that they own only 2,002 timberland acres.
• Matt Dias (RPF of Big Creek Lumber) repeated this number many times to the media.
• NAIL determined that SJWC owns at least 2,754 timberland acres, and likely more
• CALFIRE agreed, concluding that SJWC owns approximately 2,825 timberland acres

What does this mean? Not only that the plan should have been denied, but also that it was never even eligible for consideration in the first place! We the taxpayers have funded a very expensive public review process, for two long years, for an application that did not even meet the basic submission requirements. And this acreage issue only came to light because of NAIL's efforts.

Useful Links:

"High-tech effort blocks San Jose Water Co.'s logging plan", San Jose Mercury News (September 29, 2007) by Paul Rogers.

"Cal Fire Denies Water Co. Logging Plan: Victory for Neighbors Against Irresponsible Logging", Los Gatos Observer (September 28, 2007) by Alastair Dallas.

"NOTICE OF INELIGIBILITY", (1.5MB pdf file) Sent to Mr. Matt Dias, RPF, Big Creek Lumber Company by CAL FIRE (dated Sept 25, 2007) "Letter from Assemblymember Ira Ruskin", to NAIL (September 27, 2007) by Assemblymember Ira Ruskin.

"San Jose Water Company Timberland Analysis": (Quicktime movie, 5 minutes, no audio) Video prepared for January 31st Public Hearing, by Rebecca Moore, presenting Timberland Acreage issue to the public and Cal Fire for the first time. Special thanks to our mountain neighbor/scientist, Adelia Barber, for her extensive and accurate analytical work in determining the SJWC timberland acreage