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- Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive
- Path: sparky!uunet!wupost!mont!pencil.cs.missouri.edu!daemon
- From: Christic Institute <christic@igc.apc.org>
- Subject: Owl Creek On The Chopping Block
- Message-ID: <1992Sep6.105245.11612@mont.cs.missouri.edu>
- Followup-To: alt.activism.d
- Originator: daemon@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
- Sender: news@mont.cs.missouri.edu
- Nntp-Posting-Host: pencil.cs.missouri.edu
- Organization: ?
- Date: Sun, 6 Sep 1992 10:52:45 GMT
- Approved: map@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
- Lines: 57
-
- /* Written 7:19 pm Sep 5, 1992 by econet in cdp:en.alerts */
- /* ---------- "Owl Creek On The Chopping Block" ---------- */
- ANCIENT REDWOODS ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK IN HUMBOLDT COUNTY
-
- On March 6, 1991, the California Board of Forestry voted to overturn
- California Department of Forestry's decision to deny Pacific Lumber
- Company's (PALCO) Timber Harvest Plan (1-90-237-HUM) on Owl Creek. Owl
- Creek is the second largest unprotected old growth stand left in the world.
- It is known habitat to many endangered species including at least two pairs
- of Spotted Owls, the Marbled Murrelet, Tree Vole, Tailed Frog and possibly
- the Pacific Fisher! The severely flawed THP provides only minimal protection
- to the known spotted owls while ignoring and refusing to even study the
- other endangered species.
-
- The Board's dicision to overturn the CDF's denial came on the heels of a
- decision last January to uphold a CDF decision to deny two THP's in the
- infamous Headwaters Forest. At 3,000 acres, the Headwaters Forest is the
- largest unprotected redwood stand and the only "redwood wilderness" on the
- planet! Owl Creek is a similar forest of approximately 500 acres located
- in an adjacent drainage only a few air miles from Headwaters. Owl Creek
- drains into the Yaeger Creek, a tributary to the Van Duzen River which meets
- the Eel River near its mouth. Owl Creek is a major part of the Headwaters
- Wilderness Complex that is currently being proposed in Congress as a
- federal preserve. The Wilderness Complex encompasses several significant old
- growth and residual stands surrounding the Headwaters Forest.
-
- The decision to deny the Headwaters harvest plans in January of '91 should
- have set a precedent for protection of the marbled murrelet. The marbled
- murrelet is a rare sea bird that flies inland to nest in the branches of
- old growth trees. It is an endangered species in California, and a candidate
- for federal listing. There are less than 1,800 of these birds in California
- and fewer than 2,000 in Oregon according to ornithologist C.J. Ralph. The
- marbled murrelet is evenmore dependent on the ancient forest than the
- Northern Spotted Owl, and along with the decimation of the these ecosystems
- comes the extinction of the species.
-
- The Board's decision is not only an ecological disaster, it is illegal
- according to the California Forest Practices Act and Endangered Species Act.
- Because of the blatant legal violations made by Pacific Lumber and the
- Board of Forestry, a lawsuit filed by the Environmental Protection and
- Information Center (EPIC) has an excellent chance of stopping the impending
- cut on Owl Creek. However, it will take time to get a judge to issue a
- temporary restaining order (TRO), and a lawsuit won't put the ancient
- redwoods back after the chainsaws come. Your help is needed to stop the
- massacre until the court silences the operation in Owl Creek.
-
- Help save the last redwood wilderness! Come to Humboldt County and take a
- stand for the last unprotected stands. The redwoods need us, and we can't
- count on the agencies or the Save the Redwoods Leagus to stop this one.
- People are needed for all types of action, including support (non-arrest
- situations!).
-
- Nightly hiking tours of Owl Creek are being held now! Spend an unforgettable
- night under the magestic canopy of the redwood forest. For information on
- this and other ways to help stop this destruction, call (707) 839-5847.
-
- (ref.: mnelson Sat Sep 5 17:12:01 1992)
-