With denial of appeals filed by two Sacramento-area environmental groups, a much-needed, 5,600-acre clearing project on the Stanislaus National Forest can begin.

The Phase II Fuel Reduction, Forest Health and Road Management Project calls for logging, shredding and pile burning on portions of the Wrights, Hull and Rush Creek drainage, southeast of Highway 108 between Cold Springs and Long Barn. Much of the Mi-Wok Ranger District project is in the Wildland Urban Interface, where fire can be a significant threat to nearby homes and businesses.

Not only that, but the project calls for commercial logging on up to 2,192 acres. This could provide a needed shot in the arm for the timber industry, which with the closure of Sierra Pacific Industries’ Standard Mill has been hit particularly hard by the 2009 recession.
   

“It’s the worst we’ve ever seen it.”

The speaker is Liz Sewell, and she ought to know. Sewell is executive director of Sonora’s Mountain Women’s Resource Center and, by her job’s very nature, she sees a lot of bad.