On the provocative threat to cut down old-growth trees and chaparral across 755 acres deep in the Ventura County backcountry, the Forest Service extended the public comment deadline to August 14.
The move happened thanks to our Rep. Salud Carbajal asking for the extension to Los Padres National Forest Supervisor Kevin Elliott. Carbajal introduced the legislation earlier this year that would protect portions of the project area under the Wilderness Act and he also asked that an environmental assessment be conducted.
“The purpose of the Reyes Peak Forest Health and Fuels Reduction Project is to improve wildlife habitat and forest health by thinning surface and ladder fuels, to reduce potential fire intensities and create landscapes more resilient to the impacts of drought, insects and disease, and wildfire in an area at risk for substantial tree mortality,” according to the Forest Service.
Los Padres ForestWatch, the Sierra Club and many others oppose the plan arguing “the ridge is a remarkable biodiversity hotspot ... It would allow the logging of centuries-old trees, up to five feet in diameter, and the clearance of rare old-growth chaparral along six miles of the prominent ridge known as Pine Mountain stretching from Highway 33 to Reyes Peak.”
Hearing of the project, Sierra Club member Carla Bollinger and her husband “decided to visit Pine Mountain before preparing the public comment letter. It was an adventure to escape ‘living’ in my home office-work space,” Carla is also the Director of PLAN, the Public Land Alliance Network.
“We drove State Route 33 north (Ojai Hwy), continued north (Maricopa Hwy) to our getaway and high-oxygen, wonderland visit. The Matilija poppies were in bloom, translucent dancers decorating the passageway. On the way back we stopped at the Wheeler Gorge Visitor Center with a meticulously informative wildlife/birds/nature display. Take the drive, stop on the turnouts, inhale and take photos,” she advised.
To read the project proposal and submit a comment, visit the project webpage and these other links:
https://tinyurl.com/ReyesTreeCuts
From ForestWatch:
https://www.LPFW.org/pine
Watch ForestWatch’s webinar on this project:
https://tinyurl.com/PineMtWebinar
