News of Salvage Logging Came Too Late
by EF!Humboldt ~ October 30th, 2008. Filed under: Threatened Wild Places, Uncategorized.
The sudden news of Sierra Pacific Industries salvage logging on private land within the Underwood Roadless Area came too late. EF! activists visiting the site found a recently finished clearcut approximately 10-15 acres in size. The soil was heavily disturbed and numerous large green branches found in slash piles told the tale of big living trees that had been logged under the guise of salvaging the wood from dead or dying trees.
A salvage logging exemption allows a company to avoid the environmental review of a “Timber Harvest Plan” (THP), providing for a very speedy and secretive permit process taking mere days. A THP requires months of review and somewhat cryptic public notification as soon as a plan is proposed.
Fresh paint and plastic flags in most of the remaining forest indicate that Sierra Pacific (SPI) plans to file another logging plan here. The rest of the 160 acre SPI parcel has not been logged and there are many Old-Growth Pines, Douglas Firs, and Oaks here in the untouched forest. It’s not over in Underwood.