Help Stop Sierra Pacific's Logging Old-Growth on Pacific Coast Trail

Logging along Pacific Crest Trail sparks protests

DON THOMPSON, Associated Press Writer Tuesday, September 3, 2002
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(09-03) 16:40 PDT SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) --

The state's largest private landowner plans to begin logging this month along a section of the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail that passes though its land en route from Canada to Mexico.

Some protesters are conducting a tree-sit in the area, while others are passing petitions and organizing hikes to the area northwest of Lake Tahoe, near Sierra City.

"The trail runs smack through the middle of their harvest plan," Peter Elias of the Sierra Institute for Ecological Resource Advocacy said Tuesday.

He and others want Sierra Pacific Industries to safeguard the most sensitive land, which the Anderson-based company has done in several instances in recent months.

But the company said hikers can learn about timber harvest practices by hiking through the logging area. It has no intention of trading away the land, said spokesman Ed Bond, though there had been trade talks involving the U.S. Forest Service and Trust for Public Land.

The company will cut selected larger trees from 1,813 of the 2,880 acres in its harvest plan, as has been the practice in the Sierra Nevada range for the last 100 years, rather than clear-cutting the land as has drawn criticism to the company in other areas. In addition, it will use helicopters to remove the logs in some areas instead of building roads.

"We're trying to minimize any effect," Bond said.

The timber cut includes three miles along the trail itself, plus nearly 300 acres in three sections of old growth forest -- the largest of which is along the trail. The company began logging portions of that 300 acres last month.

Portions of the trail will pass areas that will have the forest canopy removed, or will be logged with tractors rather than helicopters, Elias said. A 60-acre clear-cut also is planned, but in an area away from the trail.

The company should spare the trees along the trail, "so we can all continue to enjoy the vistas and study these magnificent trees for generations to come," said Fran Burgard of the Scenic Corridor Preservation Group. The trees' tourism value outweighs their worth as timber, she said.

Elias called on the company to temporarily halt logging, which he said "may still allow for a negotiated resolution which will benefit everyone."

He said the company should leave the old-growth areas intact, along with protecting the trail and waterways. Both Elias and Burgard said their proposals would let Sierra Pacific log most of its land, but protect the old growth areas and trail with a land-swap or more restrictive easement.

Sierra Pacific bought the land in 1988, inheriting a five-feet-wide easement through the area dating to 1978 for the transcontinental trail that follows the crest of the Sierra.

"There's a section specifically in (the easement agreement) that we have the right to harvest along that trail, and that users should be exposed to all the various kinds of forest management," Bond said. The easement even specifies that stumps must be cut no higher than 8 inches off the ground, so hikers can step over them, he said.

But the company now feels it is being punished for helping hikers by granting the easement, which may discourage such easements in the future, Bond said.

He accused environmental activists of trying to "intimidate" the company with the tree sit-ins.

"They're trespassing on our property," he said. "These tactics really hurt the goals of the legitimate environmental groups."

The company has taken no action against the tree-sitters.
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