On Nov. 17, Cal Fire approved a Timber Harvest Plan that will permit aggressive logging in the headwaters of Felta Creek, one of the last remaining native fish habitats in the entire Russian River watershed. Despite more than 130 letters of public concern from school board officers, the local fire department, concerned citizens, ecologists, nonprofit organizations and neighborhood associations, as well as elected officials including county supervisor James Gore and state senator Mike McGuire, Cal Fire gave the green light on THP 17-017 SON “Fox Meadow.”
In doing so, Cal Fire puts the fate of a critical and fragile habitat and rural community in the hands of property owner, Ken Bareilles, a Humboldt County logger and developer.
According to NOAA/National Marine Fisheries Service and the UC Santa Barbara Sea Grant Research Program, Felta Creek is a vital refuge for endangered salmon and steelhead. In dry years, it has frequently been the only stream in the entire Russian River watershed where native fish species have returned to spawn. Although impacted, its shady pools, gravel bars and water quality are unique to the area and essential for survival of the fish.
Numerous families live full time on the upper and lower sections of the watershed, traversed by a single lane private gravel road that abuts the creek, as well as a paved public road that passes adjacent to West Side Elementary School.
Objections to the Timber Harvest Plan were formerly submitted during public comment periods. The West Side School board, Gore and McGuire asked for a third party transportation impact study before permitting thousands of trips by logging trucks, water trucks and crew vehicles on tiny roads right next to the stream and elementary school that could shut down the road for long periods each day. Cal Fire ignored all requests.
Friends of Felta Creek is a nonprofit organization established to protect this rare habitat. Biologists, agencies, geologists and forestry experts questioned the ecological impacts of aggressive logging on the 160-acre property. Many slopes are steep. In both wet and dry conditions, soil moves after harvesting and during log transport. Sedimentation of the creek and spawning grounds on forested areas and next to the gravel road are nearly unavoidable.
Serious concerns were raised about protocol to protect native species, danger to residents in case of wildfire, danger to students at West Side School from passing log trucks, bridge engineering, bonds against damage to infrastructure, fish habitat and public safety. Cal Fire’s approval rejected most of them.
In order to safeguard the community and protect one of the last ecological gems in Sonoma County, Friends of Felta Creek filed a lawsuit against Cal Fire and reached an agreement with Bareilles that temporarily prevents logging until Feb. 1, 2018.
Lucy Kotter is the Friends of Felta Creek Watershed Coordinator.
