Forestry and Land Use Policy

The Conservancy is an influential local organization for the review of forestry regulation and general land use policy. The struggle over the Lompico Headwaters Logging plan was won precisely because we understand the law and the administrative process.  The sciences of geology, hydrology, and biology are interwoven into every policy position we take.  

It is frightening how "secret" land use policy really is.  From years of attending agency hearings we are painfully aware of how few public advocates are involved with the actual decision-making for regulatory policy.  It is possible for ordinary people to be involved in local city and  county government, but once a consideration includes decisions by the State or Federal Government the complexities magnify.  

The CA Board of Forestry is currently considering hugely important issues for the future of wildlife and water resources as well as other considerations that should be of interest to the general public.  The complex arcana of these policies and rules are hard to understand and can take years of involvement for ordinary people to have any hope of following these matters.  This is why organizations like the Lompico Watershed Conservancy are so vital to the public interest.

We of course are involved in Santa Cruz County government.  These are the State and Federal agencies we try to follow:  CA Board of Forestry and CDF,  State Water Resources Control Board, Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, CA Department of Fish and Game, National Marine Fisheries Service and US Fish and Wildlife Service.  This is a long list but these agencies determine policy that affects our lives and the fate of our wildlife, our streams and  Monterey Bay.  County and city government is often expected to follow and enforce rules written in Sacramento and Washington DC.

The current economic distress is causing severe impacts to local and federal agencies.  They often can not perform their legally mandated obligations both because of a lack of funding and for reasons of political weakness. 

Forests and Water

Logging and Wildfire

Much has been said about fire danger and fire hazard reduction. There is misinformation being promulgated about fire hazard, and the timber industry has used the confusion to present their argument that logging is necessary to reduce fire risk.

It's a misunderstanding of forest ecology to suggest that logging in these mountains reduces fire danger. A logging operation leaves behind a large volume of severed branches and tree crowns which are referred to as logging slash. It is these small diameter surface fuels which are the most important source of fuel for the spread of fire in forests.