What’s up with the Caspar 500 Timber Harvest Plan?
CalFire approved the Caspar 500 THP in 2020, but the harvest was halted by activists in the summer of 2021. CalFire proposed changes to the plan in May 2022. The Mendocino Trail Stewards did not support the revised plan (you can read about our decision here). On May 15th 2023, the Caspar 500 timber sale contract expired. So, what’s next for this beloved patch of forest adjacent to the community of Caspar?
At the May 22nd meeting of the Recreation Task Force, State Forest Program Manager Kevin Conway said that CalFire is hopeful that the harvest will be completed within the next year or two. Although the contract (timber sale) with Willits Redwood Company has officially expired, the timber harvest plan (THP) for Caspar 500 is valid until 2025, with the option to extend it until 2027.
During the March 21st episode of the KZYX radio show The Ecology Hour, with Trail Stewards co-founder Chad Swimmer, Conway stated that CalFire “is still very committed to finding a viable project within [the Caspar 500 THP] footprint,” and is hoping “to go back with our tribal partners, community, and our contractors to put together another package that is viable and will be supported by the community and will successfully allow us to achieve some of the objectives that we have in the Caspar 500 area.” Those objectives are forest health and resiliency, research, and the improvement of recreation as well as fish and wildlife habitat.
The forest health objective would be accomplished by cutting trees, a majority of which would be early adult redwoods (18-30”). Conway says this would reduce density and control competition, allowing the remaining trees to grow to their maximum potential, and creating a multi-aged stand. The research objective involves testing “cluster” selections (small patches of cut trees) to determine the size of an opening needed to provide adequate light and resources for regeneration. Improvement of fish and wildlife habitat and recreation would be accomplished by decommissioning Road 669, an old logging road that has been used as an unofficial trail for over 10 years, known to many as EZN, and officially named Blue Gum. This road/trail, which was identified as having safety and environmental issues during the Caspar 500 permitting process, would be converted to an official trail with the help of logging equipment. You can read more about the planned trail work here. In addition to the road decommissioning, the project also includes the removal of invasive eucalyptus trees using non-chemical methods.
Swimmer asked Conway what would be the problem, from management’s point of view, of choosing an alternative path: not going through with the harvest plan. A mandate of the California Environmental Quality Act is that public agencies consider alternatives (including a ‘no-project’ alternative) to proposed actions that would affect the environment. Conway responded, “Hopefully the management objectives I just listed above… show that we had a pretty compelling reason for selecting the chosen alternative as the path forward.”
The Caspar 500 saga continues. We will keep you updated on any new developments. Stay tuned.
