Hi everyone,
Did you know that 224 acres of carbon-removing redwoods and Douglas Firs along the Russian River could be logged this summer? A major timber operator, Redwood Empire, has filed plans to log an area just south of Guerneville and within the Highway 116 scenic corridor.
A local community group, called the Guerneville Forest Coalition (GFC) has been fighting the plan for nearly a year but, despite more than 300 public comments objecting to the logging, Cal Fire is expected to give approval as early as next Tuesday, June 15.
Opponents claim the proposed logging, called the Silver Estates Timber Harvest Plan (THP) will inevitably impact climate because it removes the very trees that are most effective at directly removing CO2 from the atmosphere and storing it for centuries. It is estimated that one coast redwood removes from the atmosphere 250 tons of carbon. A typical tree will sequester about one ton of carbon in its lifetime. So, just one coast redwood has the ability to absorb as much carbon as 250 "regular" trees.
The Silver Estates forester refuses to say exactly how many redwoods and Douglas firs will be cut down but the THP proposes a tree canopy reduction of up to 50 percent.
As is often stated, short of burning fossil fuels, cutting down trees is the single worst thing we can do for climate change. Not only do trees directly remove CO2 from the atmosphere and store it for centuries to millennia, the very act of cutting them down results in immediate carbon releases via felling, hauling, milling, and processing machinery that represents a “double hit” to the climate.
There is a growing body of research that tells us that we need to rethink forestry in California. For example:
For more information on the Silver Estates Timber Harvest Plan and the efforts of the Guerneville Forest Coalition, visit the GFC website at guernevilleforestcoalition.org.
Thanks, Colin
--
www.OccupySonomaCounty.org
To select the daily digest or abridged version go to your membership settings.
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "OSC - Earth Action Campaign" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to osc_earth-acti...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/osc_earth-action/066ad494-3c6f-4ed9-8b38-2f159276e327n%40googlegroups.com.