December 18, 2009
People from the Bay Area joined with North Coast watershed activists and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) staff for two days of hikes and discussion in the Headwaters Reserve on Sept. 26 and 27, visiting restored forest and repaired trails.
People associated with the Friends of Headwaters Reserve project of the Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters made the trip north, and many of the Humboldt residents who participated in the hikes are affiliated with the Humboldt Watershed Council. We were joined by Headwaters Reserve manager Chris Heppe, as well as David Anthon (BLM biologist), Sam Flanagan (BLM geologist), and David LaFever (BLM ecologist), who collectively brought a wealth of expertise, experience, and perspective. The Friends of Headwaters Reserve is expanding its advisory board and membership and reorganizing its agenda, and in that capacity we invite interested people to contact us at bach@headwaterspreserve.org or at (510) 548-3113.
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In addition to decommissioning the poorly constructed logging roads, which were delivering silt into salmon-bearing streams, more than 5,000 redwood seedlings were planted in 2008--after thinning of dense Douglas-fir regeneration--in areas heavily logged in the past by Pacific Lumber. There has also been work to remove invasive non-native plants, like pampas grass and English ivy.
Species put at risk by decades of over-logging, including the coho salmon and marbled murrelet, are monitored, as are murrelet predators like ravens, jays, and crows. BLM biologists informed us that in 2008, two new pairs of spotted owls were detected in the Reserve, bringing the known population to four pair.
There was much story telling on the trail of the years of activism that resulted in the 7,472 acres being protected. BLM has expressed interest in, and we hope to help facilitate, the inclusion of that history of advocacy in displays planned for the new interpretive center, located about a half mile from the parking area on the Elk River trail. The interpretive center, not yet completed or open, is a primitive site in keeping with management policy and is housed in a relocated train barn that was part of the historic logging settlement of Falk.
Saturday's hike into the southern access area of Salmon Creek provided looks at recovering second growth, decommissioned road areas, re-contoured trails, completed thinning operations, and murrelet monitoring stations. Sunday's hike into the northern access via the Elk River trail included a dance by an American dipper (water ouzel) in the South Fork Elk River, on the way to the old growth loop at the top of the trial.
During the hikes we poured over maps, paused to search the horizon with binoculars, and discussed the details of restoration work we were seeing, plus ideas the BLM has about future projects.
The Reserve's segment of the South Fork Elk River is part of the planning for the Elk River watershed as a whole, including considerations of revised limits on sediment release into the river system, or TMDLs (Total Maximum Daily Load). For more information, see the Humboldt Watersheds Council's website at www.voicesofhumboldtcounty.com
The Friends of Headwaters Reserve was formed as a project of BACH in order to interface with the agency during the several years-long planning process to determine management policy for the Reserve, and to provide input on impacts of trails and other recreation use. The Friends group has submitted comments on THPs within or bordering the Reserve, on critical habitat for the marbled murrelet, and other matters. BACH and FoHWR have also participated as a member of the Conservation System Alliance, advocating for lands in the BLM's National Landscape Conservation System, which includes Headwaters Forest Reserve and other Conservation Areas and National Monuments. We invite your participation as we expand and explore.
For more information: www.headwaterspreserve.org
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Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters
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TOC for Forest & River News, Winter 2009