|
Posted 2/12/04
The Heritage Tree Preservation Act
The Heritage
Tree Preservation Act (SB 754), introduced by Sen. Don Perata (D-Oakland),
would ban the cutting of California’s oldest and largest trees.
The bill has passed the Senate and is now on its way to an Assembly vote.
The bill would protect selected species of old-growth trees (Coast redwoods,
giant sequoia, Port Orford cedars, Douglas-firs and hardwoods) on non-federal
forestland. This includes land owned by major timber companies. The ban
would apply to trees that meet species-specific minimum diameters and
were alive in 1850, California’s first year of statehood.
The bill is backed by a coalition of environmental and religious groups
called the Citizens' Campaign for Old-Growth Preservation (CFOG) of which
Forests Forever is a member. The legislation has garnered a healthy slew
of celebrity endorsers, including Bonnie Raitt, Natalie Merchant and James
Taylor.
The bill would bring sweeping protection for old-growth trees in the state
of California. Existing protection for the state's old-growth is extremely
spotty, and leaves the majority of ancient trees vulnerable to removal.
"Most people don't know that we're still cutting old-growth, and
when they find out they don't think it's an acceptable practice,"
said CFOG Executive Director Susan Moloney.
The support for old-growth protection is wide-ranging, Moloney said. The
fact that the bill is backed by several religious organizations shows
that many people understand the more intangible values of trees, she said.
"Coming from a religious perspective, people believe that there are
substantive important non-economic values that these trees provide such
as spirituality," Moloney said. "Some of us believe that these
places are as sacred as any church one would walk in."
Forests Forever board member Kent Stromsmoe, principal author of the measure,
said many endangered species depend on old-growth for survival. New trees
can grow tall relatively quickly but cannot reproduce other old-growth
characteristics, Stromsmoe said.
As an example, Stromsmoe pointed to the Marbled murrelet, a species of
bird that nests only in old-growth, and depends on the high, large-diameter
branches that only very old trees can provide.
Not only do old-growth trees deserve protection for their ecological benefits,
Stromsmoe said, they are an irreplaceable part of history. Some of California's
old-growth, he noted, may have existed as long ago as 2700 B.C.
"The bill approaches (the trees) from a heritage standpoint. They
were passed into our care from the past," Stromsmoe said.
The Heritage Tree Preservation Act would apply to trees on non-federal
forestland, since the state does not have jurisdiction over federally
owned land. Stromsmoe said that the bill's definition of forestland is
very specific: it must be capable of growing a crop of trees to produce
lumber or other forest products. In other words, the measure does not
apply to trees in people's backyards, he said.
The measure would include a buffer zone of 35 feet for Port Orford cedar
heritage trees and 100 feet for Giant sequoia heritage trees, in which
a selection harvest would be permitted. No sites of rare, threatened or
endangered plants or animals could be disturbed, threatened, or damaged
within the buffer zone. Slash burning would be excluded from the zone,
and heavy timber equipment would not be allowed inside the buffer except
on existing permanent roadways.
FORESTS FOREVER San
Francisco |