As the winter rains begin to soak in, we busy ourselves with community organizing, staying dry, building new living quarters in the tree-village, and replenishing our water stores. We're now entering year four of the occupation in the McKay Tract/ Ryan Creek watershed to stop this precious habitat from being clear-cut by Green Diamond Resource Company, aka Simpson.
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The logging plan was set to expire this August, as no work had commenced since it's approval three years ago. In July, to our alarm, GD filed start-up on the logging plan and did a minor amount of road maintenance. This qualified them for a one year extension on the time period to execute the plan. In the start-up letter to state logging agency, CDF (aka Calfire), GD forester Greg Templeton said that they're waiting for timber prices to increase before they log this site, which sounds illogical as they are clear-cutting much forest elsewhere. Templeton also flatly denied that any significant changes had occurred at the proposed logging site. However, GD knows full well that the tree village includes a sprawling ropes course, tying up approximately 4-5 acres in the heart of their proposed road network.
In the face of an uncertain future, one thing is for sure, the occupation of this Redwood forest will continue.
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TOC for Forest & River News, Winter 2011