By Jon Wiener
Mountain View-based Sempervirens Fund has just signed a deal to protect 600 acres of contested redwood forest in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Now all that is left to do is raise $5.5 million between now and June.
A timber company was moving ahead with plans to log 425 acres of century-old redwoods in the Lompico Creek headwaters, an area known as “Islandia,” before Sempervirens stepped in last week and signed an option agreement.
“It’s key property because of watershed protection,” said Brian Steen, executive director of Sempervirens Fund. “Everybody who lives in the Lompico area gets their drinking water” from the property, he said.
For years, residents of the small working-class community on the eastern side of the summit had battled Redwood Empire over its logging plans. In 2001, the company submitted logging plans to the state forestry department, but citizens and local agencies mobilized to block them. A second set of plans was making its way through the regulatory process when Sempervirens announced its option agreement.
Kevin Collins, president of the Lompico Watershed Conservancy, said that the land is too fragile to support logging activities. The company was planning to use helicopters because the terrain was too steep to build roads.
The headwaters serve as spawning grounds for steelhead trout and are home to at least eight species of predatory birds, according to Collins.
“We knew that the only resolution to this was that the land be purchased,” said Collins. “We were extremely pleased because it’s an outcome that we’ve been working toward for years.
Collins said his group had expressed an interest in purchasing the land from Redwood Empire, but couldn’t afford the asking price.
As part of the agreement, Sempervirens will purchase another 200 acres near Boulder Creek, where neighbors also fought off Redwood Empire’s plans to use helicopters to fly timber over their homes.
Jodi Frediani, executive director of Citizens for Responsible Forestry Management, said the deal marks a successful conclusion for citizen activists in both locations, and is good news all around for local residents.
“Both of these properties are key for protecting drinking water supplies for citizens of Santa Cruz County,” said Frediani.
A representative from Redwood Empire did not return phone calls seeking comment.
Santa Cruz County Supervisor Mark Stone, who represents both Lompico and Boulder Creek, said his first reaction when he learned of the deal was to “jump for joy.”
“We were all very fearful that the process was heading towards an inevitable conclusion — that the property was going to get logged no matter what we did,” said Stone.
Since purchasing the land that became Big Basin State Park in 1900, Sempervirens has preserved 22,000 acres of forest. Its 8,000 members include people from every state in the country, according to Steen. The agreement with Redwood Empire includes a $100,000 consideration and gives Sempervirens until June 30 to raise the remainder.
INFORMATION:
Sempervirens is holding a kickoff party for its fundraising campaign this Saturday in Lompico. For more information or to make a donation, go to www.sempervirens.org.
E-mail Jon Wiener at jwiener
