Jonesville Logging Project Rejected on the Headwaters Of Butte Creek

The Almanor District on the Lassen National Forest proposed to log 10.5 million board feet of timber and 5 million feet of biomass on 30% of the 16,580 acre Jonesville Management area, the headwaters area of Butte Creek from Jones Creek to Southeast of Cirby Meadow. This included 1,312 acres of late seral forest (old growth forest), including stands that have never before been logged.

As part of the National Environmental Policy (NEPA) process, members of the Lassen Forest Preservation Group, the forestry committee of the Yahi Group of the Sierra Club, raised issues during the planning process. "We communicated our concerns to the Almanor Ranger District, but they didn't appear to be listening," said John Ost, Appellant. When the Forest Service did not adequately address the issues, they filed an administrative appeal with the Regional Office.

The issues of the appeal focused mainly on the effects to the California spotted owl, effects to the marten, compliance with the Lassen National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (LRMP), and compliance with NEPA in terms of lacking alternatives, premature consideration of the Quincy Library Group Act objectives, and roads. For relief, the LFPG requested that a new environmental assessment be prepared which would analyze a new proposed action alternative and consider new information concerning the California spotted owl and marten.

On Monday, July 19, 1999, the Regional Reviewing Officer found that the Biological Assessment/Biological Evaluation did not consider all of the effects of the final proposal, so the decision to implement the project was reversed.

At this critical time of changing land management direction inside the Forest Service, it is clear that the local ranger districts must consider the environment in logging projects. "With the spotted owl population in such serious decline, we are pleased to see the Forest Service Regional Office taking the issues of habitat protection seriously on the Lassen National Forest," said Ost.

Appeal Victory on the Castle Rocks Forest Health Project

The Almanor District on the Lassen National Forest proposed to log 10.5 million board feet of timber off of an already severely cut-over 1100 acres of public land southwest of Lake Almanor in the northern Sierra Nevada.

The Castle Rocks "Forest Health Project" was proposed to reduce densely stocked stands and increase vegetation diversity, but the Almanor District planned to do this work at the expense of one of its most important forest dwelling species --the California spotted owl.

"The Castle Rocks project shows a clear disregard for science and the law", said Craig Thomas, Forest Defense Coordinator for the Sierra Nevada Forest Protection. Despite the fact Forest Service and academic research scientists have been tracking an accelerating downward population trend of spotted owls on the Lassen National Forest for nine years, the Almanor Ranger District came to the astounding conclusion that although the Castle Rocks project "would contribute to a loss of viability for the [Peacock Point spotted owl] pair due to the changes in habitat" there would be mot be a trend towards Federal listing under the Endangered Species Act, said Thomas.

"The Almanor Ranter District tried to ignore the cumulative impacts to spotted owls in a logged over landscape that is so fragmented it looks like ‘Swiss cheese from the air’" said Trish Puterbaugh of the Lassen Forest Preservation Group, who monitors Forest Service activities as part of the Lassen Forest Preservation group.

"I was glad to see the Regional Office of the Forest Service take the threat to the spotted owl population on the Lassen National Forest seriously", said Paula Shapiro, one of the Castle Rock appellants.

The Appeal Reviewing Officer noted "uneven compliance with policy and Direction" and disappointment "in the lack of effort to involve the public in the scoping process."

The Castle Rocks project is the best "bad example" for why we need to implement stronger protections for old growth forest and species that depend on them in the up-coming regional EIS. These changes will have to come from the top down as the Forest Service attempts to meet the public’s demand for increased environmental protection.

At this critical time of changing land management direction inside the Forest Service, it is clear that the forests and local ranger districts still have not got the message they can not continue to produce timber outputs at the expense of the environment.

The Lassen Forest Preservation Group (LFPG) is the Forestry Committee of the Yahi Group of the Sierra Club. Stephen Sayre, Trish Puterbaugh, Paula Shapiro, and John Ost visited the Castle Rocks project site, met with the forest service, and wrote comments making requests for changes to the Castle project before it was completed. When their concerns were unanswered in the final decision, Stephen Sayre, Trish Puterbaugh , and Paula Shapiro wrote an administrative appeal to the Forest Service Regional Office. As a result, the project was rejected as written, and will need to be redone before it is implemented.

Thanks to all the members of the Lassen Forest Preservation Group for their hard work.

Thanks to the Yahi Group of the Sierra Club for their support.