September 27, 2007

Dear Friends,
I am pleased to inform you that the Non-Industrial Timber Management Plan
(NTMP) proposed in the Los Gatos Creek and Thompson Road area by the San Jose
Water Company and Big Creek Lumber has been denied. The California Department of
Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) has ruled that the San Jose Water Company is
ineligible for an NTMP.

Since the beginning of this process, I voiced my concerns to CAL FIRE about the
fire safety issue and the size of the logging area and expressed my desire to see this land
preserved as open space. I have nothing but praise for the staff at CAL FIRE who worked
with me continuously. I also want to thank the many residents of our community and the
Neighbors Against Irresponsible Logging (NAIL) for initially bringing this issue to my
attention and working closely with my staff and me. Working together we were
successful.

Rest assured, I will continue to monitor this situation. If you have further concerns,
please contact me.

Sincerely,
IRA RUSKIN
Assemblymember, 21st District

STATE CAPITOL
P.O. BOX 942849
SACRAMENTO, CA 94249-0021
(916) 319-2021
FAX (916) 319-2121
IRA RUSKIN
ASSEMBLYMEMBER, TWENTY-FIRST DISTRICT

(original letter attached as pdf) 

Here is a recent letter submitted to CDF regarding another NTMP up north.  The plan is being strongly opposed.  The letter is both uplifting and extremely supportive of NAIL's expert fire comments.

 
The author is a fisheries biologist and Professor Emeritus at UC Davis. 

 
43200 E. Oakside Pl.

Davis, CA 95618

April 25, 2007

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection

Attn: Forest Practice

135 Ridgway Avenue

Santa Rosa, CA 95401

RE: NTMP 1-06NTMP-011SON

I have reviewed the proposed harvest plan and submit the following comments. I am retired from the University of California where I taught and conducted research in aquatic ecology with emphasis on the effects of land use on aquatic systems. Portions of this research were located in the coastal redwood region of California.

The proposed timber harvesting plan for the Bohemian Grove will result in substantial changes in the structure of the forest and increased disturbance to the watershed. The plan will reduce the amount of hardwood by 50% area-wide and have a similar reduction in the amount of large diameter conifers. The streamside zones (riparian) will lose significant functional processes and the aquatic community will suffer over time.

The reasons given for this change in conditions are to improve growth and harvest and to reduce risk of catastrophic fire. In the latter case, the logic presented is that the changed condition of the forest will be closer to the pre-logged state of the early 1900s. The basis for supporting this new condition is the claim that the redwood forests of the North Coast were formerly composed of widely spaced trees, open canopy, multiage, non-old trees (and presumably a clean understory). Such a picture is surely the condition that will prevail under the proposed plan, but it has little basis in science as the natural condition.

The description of this early condition sounds quite similar to the myths used to claim the Sierra Nevada forests looked the same way before intensive logging. Such a picture also implies that larger, old trees are a fire hazard when all evidence suggests that these aged trees are the most fire resistant. At the same time, slash generated by increased harvest in the plan can be left on the ground where it ³will naturally deteriorate over time² (p. 32). Certainly over some amount of time the latter is a true statement; but if the concern is fire risk, why would a doubling of the amount of slash from current harvest levels (with annual additions) not be a fuels concern if living green material is? There is no discussion in relation to increased fire risk of a drier and warmer microclimate in forest stands likely to be created under this plan . The scientific basis is highly suspect for claiming fire risk necessitates such a change in stand conditions for the foreseeable future.

The proposed plan will certainly lead to increased harvests over time and a change in growth. The cost is the virtual elimination (except for the small area in the camp vicinity) of the largest size class of trees in the majority of the holding and a major change in the magnitude of entry and general disturbance.

From a long, and unfortunate, history of logging in the North Coast it is well known that even the best of intentions for mitigation fail when logging is extensive. The risks in this region are high when land disturbance occurs. The change proposed in this plan will increase the risk of mitigation failures, unforeseen sedimentation and other problems. Even when risks of high erosion hazards and steep slopes are acknowledged, the plan defends entry to these areas by tractor as the necessity to log.

Plans to mitigate disturbance to riparian zones, for example, are said to be more than required by regulations. However, in broad terms the level of harvest, trail crossings of watercourses,and reductions in near-stream large trees will have an impact on stream and riparian habitat. The streamsize protection zones widths, although within the rules, are still on the order of fractions of a site potential tree height. Abundant literature continues to support riparian protection that starts with width of the site potential tree height near streams as a critical dimension for protecting stream functions.

Thus, over time, the true riparian influence zone (scientifically known to be hundreds of feet) will be dramatically altered by this plan. For example, in the plan provision of large wood recruitment to the streams is said to be taken care of by a 50¹ zone near the channel (p. 24). Detailed studies at Caspar Creek showed that the chain of events that lead to wood recruitment is several tree lengths in distance from a channel. Leaf and needle fall to a stream and maintenance of riparian microclimate are other functions that will become impaired under the plan.

Other so-called mitigations in the plan are long-term or permanent disturbances themselves, such as more channels in culverts and creating rip-rapped banks (armored ford crossings. This plan for the Bohemian Grove timber harvest is a hard industrial model* removal of slower growth large trees, removal of ³competing² non-conifer trees, herbicide use to enforce stand composition changes, maximization of growth and harvest, and development of a heavy-use permanent road system. What does the ³N² mean in this NTHP?

Sincerely,

Don C. Erman

================================

Don C. Erman

Professor Emeritus

Aquatic ecology/ fisheries biology

Recent past director, University of California Centers for Water and Wildland Resources

Team Leader for the Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project

Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology

University of California, Davis

Davis, CA 95616

e-mail: dcerman@ucdavis.edu

The following appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly the week of March 19th.

Will logging plan affect town? Los Gatos looking it over now

By Jason Sweeney

The town of Los Gatos has stayed out of the controversy surrounding a proposal to log 1,002 acres of redwood and Douglas fir trees above the Lexington Reservoir. As the California Department of Forestry comes closer to completing its review of the proposal, the town has decided to take a closer look.

The timberland in question lies outside the town's jurisdiction. Last month, the town retained an environmental consultant to review all reports on a Nonindustrial Timber Management Plan that, if approved, would give Big Creek Lumber the go-ahead to log in perpetuity nine units of timberland owned by the San Jose Water Co. The environmental consultant hired by the town has been asked to determine whether the proposed logging would have any impact on Los Gatos.

The logging plan has been controversial since it first became public in 2005. The San Jose Water Co. and Big Creek Lumber hope the NTMP will be approved this year allowing logging to go forward, but mountain residents have organized in strong opposition. They argue logging in the mountains will have numerous negative effects on their lives.

Los Gatos has thus far taken a "wait-and-see" approach to the logging proposal as various county and state agencies review the NTMP.

"It's beyond the town boundaries by several miles," Mayor Joe Pirzynski said. "But a number of issues have been raised from this proposal that might have an effect on the town."

Pirzynski recalled the 1985 Lexington Fire that started outside town limits but threatened the downtown. "The fire risk is an issue that obviously concerns us because that is the backdrop to our community," he said. "We know that part of this proposal is fire mitigation, but we need to evaluate what the facts are."

Opponents of the logging proposal argue that removing large trees from the forest and leaving slash on the forest floor will increase the fire hazard. Big Creek Lumber counters that thinning the forest will reduce that hazard.

Pirzynksi said other possible consequences could be an increase in landslide risk, changes in water quality and more traffic due to logging trucks using Highway 17.

"The way we are looking at this situation is at what the potential impacts could be to our town, if any," Pirzynski said. "We may discover that the impacts are minimal to none. If we do find that the impacts to the town are significant, then at that point we will determine what actions we can take."

In January, several hundred people packed the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors chambers in San Jose at a public forum held by the California Department of Forestry concerning the logging plan. The majority of speakers at the meeting spoke against the plan, while representatives from Big Creek Lumber and the San Jose Water Company argued a case for responsible logging.

Currently, the CDF is addressing issues raised at the public forum and vetting a pre-harvest inspection report. The CDF is also waiting for data from Big Creek Lumber and from Neighbors Against Irresponsible Logging regarding competing findings on the amount of timberland owned by the San Jose Water Co.

NAIL, a group of mountain residents opposed to the logging plan, maintains the San Jose Water Co. owns more timberland than state law allows for the type of logging plan that has been applied for. But Big Creek Lumber states otherwise.

If the CDF determines the water company owns more than 2,500 acres of commercially viable timberland, then the NTMP would be recommended for denial.

"This is a fairly controversial plan," CDF forest practice inspector Richard Sampson said. "There are a number of issues that we are working on--fire-related, endangered species, road access, the type of equipment to be used in the logging. For a large plan like this for as controversial as it is, I'm not surprised how long it's taking to review it, and I'd rather not rush it."

Sampson said the next step in the review process is for Big Creek Lumber to address issues and questions that have come out of various reports. If that is done satisfactorily, the report is then passed to the CDF Region Forest Practice Office in Santa Rosa for a final review. If everything received is complete, public comment would be closed and the office has 15 days to approve or deny the plan. Sampson said it is possible a decision could be made before the year is out.

NAIL is hosting a benefit on March 25 at the Redwood Estates Pavilion to raise funds to continue fighting the logging proposal and to pay for lawsuits if the plan is approved.

Welcome to DigNit! Are you Diggin' it?

A Benefit Concert for
Neighbors Against Irresponsible Logging

Featuring:
Shrink Circus - Click Here
with special guests
MotorPunx - Click Here

Saturday March 15th
The Venue, Los Gatos

Doors Open at 7:00
Show Starts at 8:00

Tickets: only $10.00 Click Here to Purchase.

All ticket and food concessions will be donated
to NAIL.

Our Previous  Events- 

 The Fight's Not Over!   You are cordially invited to...

A Benefit to
SAVE THE LOS GATOS CREEK WATERSHED!

Sunday, March 25, 3:00 to 7:00 PM
at the Redwood Estates Pavilion
21450 Madrone Drive
Redwood Estates

See NAIL Home Page for more info

Directions to Redwood Estates Pavilion:

From Los Gatos: Take Highway 17 South toward Santa Cruz, In approximately 5-8 minutes you will see a small sign which says "Redwood Estates" (Redwood Estates to the right). Take this exit. (If you got all the way to Summit Rd, you went too far up Highway 17, you would need to turn around at the top and follow the directions below, "From Santa Cruz"). Exit Right off Highway 17 as indicated. Then take an immediate Right turn up the hill and follow the signs.

From Santa Cruz: Take Highway 17 North toward Los Gatos. Go past Summit Rd down the hill toward Los Gatos. In only about 1-2 minutes after the summit, take the "Redwood Estates" exit to the right off Highway 17. (This is indicated by a small sign: "Redwood Estates "). Go slow, the right turn when exiting is a very sharp slightly downhill right turn. In a couple of hundred feet, you will see a sign pointing to the right that says; "Redwood Estates/Santa Cruz", follow the road around to the right, under the overpass and follow the signs.

Log Jam

From Silicon Valley Metro, Feb 7-13, by Vrinda Normand 

If looks could kill, Matt Dias from Big Creek Lumber would be a goner. The forester's cheeks turned red from the tension as a crowd of nearly 500 Santa Cruz Mountain residents at last week's public hearing shot eye-daggers at the man behind the plan to raze 1,000 acres owned by the San Jose Water Company between downtown Los Gatos and the summit. More than 90 people, many of them members of Neighbors Against Irresponsible Logging, spoke in the Santa Clara County Building before California Department of Forestry officials, who will be deciding on the plan proposed by SJW and Big Creek. "As a resident and an engineer, I'm nothing short of appalled at this plan moving forward," said Morgan Kessler, echoing concern about how logging might impact water quality and fire safety for local residents. Passionate applause from the overflow crowd peaked after Google engineer Rebecca Moore alleged that SJW is ineligible for an Non-Industrial Timber Management Plan (NTMP). The long-term timber management plan is only for landowners with less than 2,500 acres of timberland. Moore's team of scientists used high-resolution aerial photographs to map out the company's property and identified at least 2,700 acres flush with redwoods and Douglas firs. Dias could not respond at the hearing but later told the media that SJW owns only 2,000 acres of timberland. It will be interesting to see how the stakeholders fend off this latest blow after the recent onslaught of criticism: four nationally renowned fire experts said the logging plan, which aims to remove the largest (and most valuable) trees, would increase fire hazard in the forest. David Ganz, the fire scientist hired by SJW, came to the opposite conclusion, and calls his peer's reviews mere "opinions." Before the public hearing, SJW held a private press conference at its office on Bascom Avenue—if the purpose was to cull sympathy from a captive media audience, it failed. Later news reports hooked on the opponents and their supporters protesting outside of the building, waving plaques that said "Save Our Watershed."

Original article may be found here. 

The following article appeared in the February 1, 2007 San Jose Mercury News:

Neighbors use high-tech tools to challenge logging plan

By Paul Rogers
Mercury News

Armed with high-tech cameras, mapping software and a helicopter flown by a nemesis of Barbra Streisand, neighbors opposing a plan by San Jose Water Co. to log 1,000 acres in the Los Gatos Creek watershed claim they have found the plan's Achilles' heel.

Aerial photos and a detailed computer analysis show that the water company owns at least 2,754 acres of timberland containing redwood and Douglas fir trees, opponents said outside a public forum Wednesday.

That's a key number, because California law sets 2,500 acres as the maximum amount of forest land containing commercially viable trees that any landowner can own while remaining eligible for the kind of open-ended logging permit for which the water company has applied.

``We did aerial photography of every piece of land in the watershed,'' said Google engineer Rebecca Moore, a Summit Road-area resident opposing the plan. ``We used the absolute strictest definition of what timberland is, and they have too much.''

The findings could form the basis of a lawsuit against the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection if it approves the logging plan in the months ahead. At the very least, it sets up a battle of dueling computer mapping studies in an ``only in Silicon Valley'' kind of eco-showdown.

Matt Dias, a forester with Big Creek Lumber of Davenport, which San Jose Water has hired to log the property, said he has conducted his own exhaustive survey of the water company's property holdings. The company owns about 6,000 acres, with 2,002 acres of timberland, Dias said.

``I haven't seen their methods,'' Dias said. ``But we have digitized the property, we have spent weeks walking every single parcel, and we made a conservative estimate.''

The water company said it hopes to reduce fire risk on 1,002 acres of watershed lands it owns between Lexington Reservoir and Summit Road along the east side of Highway 17 near Los Gatos. The company has applied for a ``non-industrial timber management plan,'' to cut 20 percent of redwoods and Douglas fir trees under 12 inches in diameter and 40 percent of those trees over 24 inches in diameter during a 15-year period.

The company says the logging will reduce fire risk by thinning a forest that hasn't been logged since the 1800s. Neighbors fear noise, increased fire risk and landslides.

Wednesday night, 480 people showed up at the Santa Clara County government center in San Jose for a state forestry hearing on the plan, according to a tally by the fire marshal. Testimony continued for hours into the night. State forestry officials are expected to decide on the plan this spring.

The opponents' latest tactic involved enlisting the help of Kenneth Adelman, a Santa Cruz County resident who made millions when he founded TGV Software in the 1980s and later sold it to Cisco Systems. Adelman owns a helicopter and, in 2002, flew along the California coast, taking more than 12,000 digital photos.

He made national news in 2003 when he was sued by Streisand for $10 million after refusing to remove from his Web site an aerial photo of the Malibu cliffs that included Streisand's home.

A judge threw the suit out. Streisand was ordered to pay $155,000 to cover Adelman's legal fees.

Last February and July, Adelman flew Moore above the San Jose Water property. They took more than 700 photos, then she merged them with Google Earth software. Adelia Barber, a doctoral student in ecology at the University of California-Santa Cruz, then analyzed each photo, circling areas of redwoods and Douglas fir trees so the software could measure the exact area of each. At a minimum, the company has 2,754 acres of commercial timber, but it could have as many as 3,428 acres if surrounding areas where small saplings could grow are included, Barber said.

Moore said such technology has given regular people significant power in battling the government and large corporations.

``It levels the playing field,'' she said, noting that environmentalists from British Columbia, Australia and Minnesota have called her asking about it.

It will be up to state forestry officials to decide whose acreage totals are most accurate. The water company could sell some property to get under the 2,500-acre minimum, but Moore said ``we'd sharpen our pencils a little more'' and take additional surveys.

The following editorial appearing in the January 30, 2007 issue of the San Jose Mercury News:

S.J. Water Co. draws plan to log land near summit

RESIDENTS FIGHT TO SAVE REDWOODS, DOUGLAS FIRS

By Paul Rogers

Mercury News

But lately, they are providing the backdrop for one of Santa Clara County's biggest logging battles ever.

The issue?

Officials at the San Jose Water Co., which provides drinking water to 1 million people -- in San Jose, Los Gatos, Saratoga, Cupertino and Campbell -- are proposing to log redwood and Douglas fir trees over 1,002 acres the company owns between Lexington Reservoir near Los Gatos and Summit Road at the Santa Clara-Santa Cruz county line.

Logging, says the company, will reduce fire danger by thinning out an overgrown forest that hasn't been logged in 100 years. They say it will protect their watershed from mud and ash that would pour into Los Gatos Creek during a major blaze. They cite a 1985 fire that burned 13,000 acres and 42 homes nearby.

``This is a modest, careful, rational and efficient plan that is mindful of the environment and the residents,'' said Rich Roth, chief executive of San Jose Water.

But neighbors strongly oppose the plan.

They have hired several top fire scientists who say the thinning will open the forest to more sunlight, drying it out and increasing fire danger. They also cite studies concluding that logging on the steep slopes could cause landslides.

``You've got some of the best people in the country saying it will increase fire risk,'' said Kevin Flynn, a Cisco Systems manager who lives in Chemeketa Park along Highway 17. ``If the wind turns the wrong way, the fire's going into downtown Los Gatos.''

`Extremely alarmed'

Flynn and other opponents say if the plan is approved by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, they'll sue to stop it.

``The landslides this could cause threaten our roads and our homes,'' said Linda Wallace, president of the Chemeketa Park Mutual Water Co., and a 26-year resident of the area. ``We're extremely alarmed.''

The logging plan will be the subject of a public hearing Wednesday in San Jose. It calls for dividing the area into nine zones of about 100 acres each, and logging each once every 15 to 20 years for six weeks at a time. Timber crews wouldn't clear-cut the forests, they note, and would remove 40 percent of the trees over 24 inches in diameter and 20 percent of trees 12 inches around.

Neighbors, however, say the cumulative impacts threaten the whole area.

Ground zero is Chemeketa Park, where logging would be closest to homes. The private neighborhood five miles south of Los Gatos was built in 1925 by a Palo Alto developer who sold lots in the San Jose Mercury-Herald for $50 each. The 150 homes were used as vacation cabins for San Francisco and San Jose residents in the 1930s, but now are year-round residences.

At the heart of the debate is the size of the trees to be cut. Many fire studies show that large trees are more resistant to fire, while small trees and brush are most flammable. Critics say the water company is looking to make money on the project by taking mostly large trees.

``The small trees burn; the big trees don't. For fire risk, this plan is backward,'' said Jodi Frediani, a longtime Santa Cruz County logging activist hired by opponents to review the plans.

Frediani and other critics say they would support some logging in the area, as long as only the brush and smaller trees were removed.

``We're not against all logging. We're against irresponsible logging,'' said Terry Clark, a retired Hewlett-Packard manager living in Aldercroft Heights.

But the water company says it needs to cut some large trees to pay for removing small trees and brush, which have no timber value.

`Income stream'

`We need the income stream. Then we've got dollars to fund the brush clearing,'' said Andrew Gere, maintenance chief of the water company.

The company has hired Big Creek Lumber, a Davenport timber company, to write the logging plans and cut the trees.

``Removing brush can cost $4,500 an acre,'' said Matt Dias, a registered professional forester with Big Creek Lumber. ``You have to cut it by hand and haul it away to a landfill. It's expensive.''

The opponents note that San Francisco, Marin County and Santa Cruz ban logging in their watershed lands. The water company counters with Watsonville, the East Bay Municipal Utility District and New York City, which allow logging.

Roth, the water company CEO, said Friday that the company would make only $500,000 in profit every two years from its logging, after thinning brush and other costs were taken into account.

`Long-term road map'

Another controversy is that the company wants an open-ended state permit, known as a ``non-industrial timber management plan,'' which never expires. It says it needs certainty to invest the money to manage the watershed, with the plan including repairs to miles of old dirt roads, along with water quality monitoring twice a month at five locations along Los Gatos Creek.

``If all we were interested in was timber revenue, we'd do one heavy cut, make the money and be out of there,'' said Gere. ``This is a long-term road map and plan for managing the land.''

Gere confirmed that the water company and local land trusts and park agencies have discussed a possible sale of an easement limiting development. But he said any such deal would have to ``ensure the same management objectives,'' meaning forest thinning to reduce fire risk would remain.

Each side has stacks of scientific documents to buttress its case. That leaves some community leaders scratching their heads. Santa Clara County Supervisor Don Gage, who represents the area, said he hasn't made up his mind whether the county should fight the state if it approves the plan.

``I want to see the facts,'' he said. ``I'm trying to find a win-win situation. I don't want to make decisions on an emotional basis.''

Under state law, the open-ended permit requires ``sustainability,'' meaning no more wood can be cut than naturally grows back every 15 years. The water company is seeking to remove 15 million board feet over 15 years -- enough to build 1,000 houses.

Since 1995, there have been six other logging plans in the area. One, by Big Creek, was done six years ago on the other side of Highway 17, on 500 acres of the former Alma College property, now an open-space preserve. Today, a visitor to the forest has a hard time seeing where the logging occurred. Big trees remain where logging occurred, and new trees six to eight feet tall have grown up.

``We've had harvests in that area over the last 10 years,'' said Rich Sampson, a state forestry official in Felton. ``I haven't witnessed any major landslides from them, and there haven't been any major fires there.''

High profile

The debate took on a high profile several months ago when opponents used Google Earth software to create a ``flyover'' showing the area to be logged. Google employee Rebecca Moore showed it to former Vice President Al Gore when he visited the company, and he issued a statement calling the logging plan ``deeply flawed.''

Forestry officials will make a decision in the coming months. Sampson says they will continue to ask for changes such as rewriting slope rules. Until then, both sides are digging in.

``This is probably going to be the most highly scrutinized timber harvest in the history of California,'' Big Creek spokesman Bob Berlage said.

After much back and forth confusion between the county and CDF, we have received word from top level CDF management that the correct start time for the public hearing scheduled on January 31 is 7:00PM.  Please disregard any communication or notice you received stating the start time is at 6PM.  

 Full details:

Public Hearing Re: San Jose Water Company Logging Plan
January 31, 2007 --- 7PM to 10PM
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisor's Chambers
70 W. Hedding St.
San Jose, CA

Go NORTH on HIGHWAY 17. Continue on 17 northbound (becoming I-880) past Los Gatos and Campbell.  Take the FIRST STREET exit. Turn RIGHT onto N 1ST ST. Turn RIGHT onto W HEDDING ST.  70 W Hedding St is on your left.  There is street parking and a parking lot across the street (bring coins for meters.)  Enter building via front lobby and follow directions to Supervisor’s chambers.