Posted 12/13/96

Logging has now begun in a critical stand of old-growth redwoods about two miles southeast of the Headwaters Grove.

The chainsaws of Pacific Lumber Company (PL) roared into action shortly after a June 20 decision by the California Supreme Court in which it denied consideration of legal challenges to two of PL's Timber Harvest Plans (THPs) in the Yager Creek basin. Yager Creek constitutes a prime navigational corridor for the Marbled murrelet, a seabird federally listed as Threatened. These and other Yager THPs totaling 1000 acres would remove most of the last remaining residual old-growth redwoods in the Headwaters Forest Complex.

Residual old growth is forest that has undergone some logging activity in recent decades, but which appears very similar to virgin redwood lands and offers comparable habitat values for many old-growth-dependent species.

"Residual old-growth redwoods are the seeds for restoration," said Forests Forever board member Jesse Noell. "Yager Creek is virtually the last of the residual old-growth in the Headwaters Complex."

The 44,000-acre Complex contains six virgin redwood tracts -- including the largest, 3,000-acre Headwaters Grove-- and has been the subject of controversy for almost 10 years.

The Yager Creek drainage comprises 135 square miles and includes more than 40 miles of streambed. The area is critical habitat to the Coho salmon, recently proposed for listing as a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act.

Logging these THPs would destroy:

• the last three and a half miles of old-growth along Yager Creek, where 96 percent of the shade cover already has been removed,
  
• Blanton Creek, a tributary to Yager, one of the last cold-water refuges for salmon on the North Coast,
  
• known winter roosting habitat for bald eagles and three Northern spotted owl territories, and
  
• remaining Coho, Summer Steelhead, and Chinook salmon, all at high risk of extinction due to lethal summer water temperatures.

The logging in a nearby prime habitat area places the flanks of Headwaters Grove itself much closer to the bite of chainsaws.

The courts and state government agencies have failed to protect the public trust. It is time to call upon the Clinton administration to protect this international treasure-- the last remnants of a once-vast ancient redwood ecosystem.

Call, write, or FAX:

Michael Spear, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 911 NE 11th Ave., Portland, OR 97232-4181, phone 503/231-6118.

Roland Schmitten, National Marine Fisheries Service, 1335 East-West Hwy., Silver Springs, MD 20910, phone 301/413-0900 (NOAA).

Bruce Babbitt, Secretary of the Interior, 1849 C St. NW, Washington, DC 20240, phone 202/208-7351, FAX 202/208-6956.

President Bill Clinton, The White House, Washington, DC 20050, phone 202/456-1111, FAX 202/456-2461

Tell them to issue a Stop-Work Order for Pacific Lumber logging in Yager Creek in the Headwaters Forest area.

Tell them such logging constitutes a prohibited "take" of Endangered Species, including salmon, murrelets, and others.