Forest logging plan to proceed, despite appeal

Appeals filed by out-of-the-area environment groups against a planned logging project in the Stanislaus National Forest’s Mi-Wok Ranger District have been denied by the U.S. Forest Service’s regional office and portions of the project will go out to bid later this month, said Jerry Snyder, forest spokesman.

One appeal was filed by the John Muir Project, a group based east of Sacramento, and another was filed by Sierra Forest Legacy, based in Sacramento.
   

The project in question — dubbed the Phase II Fuel Reduction, Forest Health and Road Management project — is roughly between the North Fork of the Tuolumne River and the first prominent ridge east of Dodge Ridge, which encompasses portions of Wrights Creek, Hull Creek and Rush Creek drainages.

Logging, shredding and pile burning are proposed on 5,600 acres within a 17,700-acre planning area.

The appeals were focused on the impact the project would have on habitat for sensitive species, such as the California spotted owl, by removing large diameter trees.

Chad Hanson, director of the John Muir Project, said that cutting trees of up to 30 inches in diameter not only removes the owl’s ideal habitat but removes the most fire-resistant trees from the forest.

“The Forest Service itself admits you do not remove mature trees to reduce fire hazards,” Hanson said.

"That kind of thinning only degrades owl habitat and removes fire resistant trees … these trees are over eight feet in girth,” he said.

While the project was scorned by these two out-of-area environment groups, it received support from both a local logging group and an environment group.

“We respect the good intentions of Sierra Forest Legacy and the John Muir Project, but we strongly disagree with their appeals,” said John Buckley, Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center executive director. “The appellants in this case are focusing their appeals on what may be ideal for the California spotted owl and a few other species ... CSERC believes that moving forward with the Phase II project will actually benefit the majority of wildlife species in the area.”

The John Muir Project and Sierra Forest Legacy can now decide if they want to challenge the projects in court.