A satellite image facing the McKay Tract looking east over Cutten. Green Diamond’s boundary is shown in red. The polygons show the McKay 2009 logging plan where GD has been approved to clearcut.  The circle is a 1000-foot radius surrounding an active northern spotted owl nest.   Image courtesy of Google Earth Pro and EPIC. Twenty years ago, when the so-called “timber wars” raged on the North Coast, pitting those who worked in the woods against those who wished to preserve the forests, the big timber companies emerged as the “bad guy” in the eyes of many. Since then, many of these companies have worked hard both to upgrade their image and to improve their forestry practices. Some companies changed their name to reflect their new image; Pacific Lumber became Palco and was subsequently purchased by Humboldt Redwood Company, and Simpson morphed into Green Diamond. In May 2004, the Seattle-based Simpson Resource Company created Green Diamond as an offshoot and transferred ownership of around 450,000 acres of California redwood timberlands. Although the Simpson name was reviled in some circles due to public opposition to large clear-cuts and old-growth logging, especially around the area that is now Redwood State and National Parks, the company has received little scrutiny under its new alias. However, in recent months, local residents and activists have challenged various Green Diamond timber harvest plans. The McKay Tract adjacent to Cutten in Eureka has been the subject of a series of opinion columns in the local media, most written by outraged neighbors who do not want to see the area logged and/or developed and environmentalists concerned about the impact on life in this sensitive ecosystem.                   A clear-cut on Green Diamond land near Blue Lake. Photo: EPIC  Still A Clear-Cut Although Green Diamond appears to be making good-faith efforts to monitor the impacts of their forestry practices on wildlife, most of its logging plans still call for clear-cutting areas of forest.  The company calls this “Even-Aged Management.” Although some consider clear-cutting to be an outdated practice, a section of the Green Diamond web site devoted to even-aged management explains that they continue to use this practice because of biology and long-term forest sustainability rather than economics.  Even-aged management, the company says, encourages the rapid re-growth of Douglas fir and redwood trees, which require full sunlight to become well established. “Clear-cutting by any name equates to a radical change in the landscape, on a grand scale,” said Kerul Dyer of the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC). “By eliminating the canopy in the redwoods, Green Diamond impacts overall forest function. How can they consider this antiquated logging technique sustainable?” Bob Zeimer, local retired forester, noted that the practice of clear-cutting is not always detrimental in regards to re-growth of redwood trees, “The driver is always economics, but redwood responds generally well to clear-cutting,” he said. “It sprouts well.” However, sun-grown redwood tends to produce an inferior timber product, with widely spaced grain that lacks the longevity and rot resistance that made redwood lumber so highly valued. Additionally, timber harvest methods must be based on more criteria than simply the potential of secondary tree growth. “Of course clear-cutting changes the wildlife dynamic dramatically,” Zeimer acknowledged. Climatic Effects An additional concern is the impact of the logging technique on climate change. At a time when timber prices are hitting record lows and, as a nation, we are looking for carbon storage, why continue to cut the redwood forests which are considered to be superior carbon storage vessels, Dyer wanted to know. Danny Oshea, an oceanographer from Trinidad concurred. “Mixed-age forests take up more carbon than clear-cuts,” he said. Zeimer stressed the most important factor when looking at timber harvest was consideration of location, place and situation. “Something that’s fine within five miles of the coast may not be swell around Willow Creek. There’s just so many different variables,” he said. In regard to Green Diamond, Zeimer equivocated, “They have credible biologists working for them and they may be doing good stuff – or they may not,” he said.  Timber or Houses? In a somewhat behind-the-scenes move, Green Diamond has been in negotiation with Humboldt County planners for at least a year to convert around 450 acres of forestlands to residential development. Although the McKay Tract is most in the public eye, the company also is looking to convert parcels from Rio Dell up to Orick. In a letter last year to Kirk Girard, Humboldt County director of Community Development Services, Green Diamond officials discussed the possibility of altering General Plan Update Alternative B to include new residential development adjacent to the Cutten area. In exchange, Green Diamond would take financial responsibility for the building of roads and other traffic-mitigating infrastructure.  The McKay Tract totals 7,200 acres. In the letter, Green Diamond stated that “442 acres are suitable for residential and/or commercial purposes,” and that 256 acres have already been re-zoned. According to Dyer, Green Diamond has already received approval to clear-cut a portion of this and may begin any day. The company has also identified over 2,000 acres in McKinleyville and 565 acres in Westhaven for potential development, as well as 207 acres between Highway 101 and Strawberry Rock. Green Diamond representatives declined to answer reporters’ questions for this article, but did provide a statement prepared in response to local concerns about the McKay Tract. It points out that portions of the McKay Tract had already undergone formal conversion from Timberland Production Zone (TPZ) to residential and commercial zoning prior to Green Diamond’s purchase of the property from Louisiana Pacific in 1998.  Their statement also passes responsibility for any future development of the property to the Humboldt County Planning Division and makes no mention of the company’s efforts to alter the General Plan Update Alternative B. Wildlife Protected?  Another section of a Green Diamond clear-cut on Snow Camp Road near Blue Lake. Photo: EPIC It is evident that Green Diamond, along with many other timber companies, has devoted money and staff into learning more about how its forestry practices affect wildlife. Green Diamond has been granted a Habitat Conservation Plan by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service based on research on the northern spotted owl, which was federally listed as a threatened species in 1990. The company’s research found that, contrary to previous findings, spotted owls not only survived but often flourished on commercial timberlands on the North Coast. “Since our owl research began in 1990, we have identified more than 1,200 spotted owls on our property alone,” says a statement on the company web site. However, many environmental activists and conservation groups challenge the idea that spotted owls are thriving on commercial timberlands. “Sadly, by all accounts the owls are still dying off on Green Diamond lands and across the Pacific Northwest,” said Dyer. “In spite of this, Green Diamond continues to log spotted owl nesting groves utilizing their incidental take permit which allows the timber company to      displace and ultimately kill this endangered species in the course of logging.”                            Dyer explained that the company’s so-called conservation plan includes government permits to “take” spotted owls. “Take,” means the death or disappearance of the owls. “Green Diamond used up all 50 of the original “take” permits so they requested eight more take permits in 2007,” said Dyer. Zeimer, however, cautioned against focusing on single issues when evaluating forestry practices. “A big problem is that people often focus on short-term issues rather than long-term legacy problems,” he said, adding that activities such as road-building and urbanization can have long-term effects on ecosystems that may not be seen right away. “Green Diamond can’t just be painted one color,” Zeimer said. “It depends on what they’re doing and where geographically they’re doing it.” The big-picture questions remain, however. What are the long-term consequences of  “even aged management” of forests? And is conversion of forestlands to residential development, including the building of new roads, a pathway to a healthy future for Humboldt County?