Winter 2023 Newsletter
Ebbetts Pass Forest Watch ~ PO Box 501, San Andreas, CA. 95249 www.ebbettspassforestwatch.org
Our Mission: The mission of Ebbetts Pass Forest Watch is to protect, promote and restore healthy forests and watersheds to maintain quality of life in the Sierra Nevada.
EPFW Winter 2023-2024 Newsletter
President’s Message
Greetings forest lovers, friends, and neighbors. The Board of Ebbetts Pass Forest Watch (EPFW) extends warm wishes to you for a happy holiday season and thanks you for your ongoing support.
This past year EPFW has continued to seek collaboration and support opportunities with other environmental and forest organizations to end clearcutting in California. One of our sister organizations, Friends of the South Fork of the Gualala River recently scored a major victory in which the Sonoma County Superior Court ruled with them against CalFire. The judge was highly critical of CalFire’s THP (Timber Harvest Plan) review practices and their ignorance of CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) requirements. One of the other plaintiffs, Prof. Peter Schmidt stated that “The Court has performed an extraordinarily thorough examination of the THP, and like most THPs, found a profound absence of analysis and abundant circular reasoning common to CalFire’s approval process.” The battles that the Friends of the South Fork of the Gualala River fights with CalFire are the same as we fight in the Sierra, and we celebrate this significant victory for the preservation of healthy, diverse California forests.
As always, EPFW will continue to educate the public about all aspects of the relationship between clearcutting and global warming, fire behavior, wildlife, water, and quality of life in the Sierra Nevada. We strive to not just be reactive to the current harmful practices of clearcutting, but we are proactively working with others to develop responsible climate-, fire- and community-protective forestry legislation and regulations.
At this year’s annual picnic held last June at White Pines Lake, our existing Board of Directors was renominated and elected for another two-year term. Congratulations to the Board members and thanks for their past work helping to preserve Calaveras’s forests for future generations.
Our work is dependent on support from concerned people like you. If you haven’t already done so, please renew your membership and/or make a tax-deductible donation.
A sincere thank you to all our supporters for your help and dedication this past year.
EPFW 2023 Work and Accomplishments
Ebbetts Pass Forest Watch continues our oversight of logging operations in our area. A major activity is submitting comments addressing deficiencies, oversights, or environmental threats in SPI’s (Sierra Pacific Industries’) Timber Harvesting Plans (THPs) that are filed for CalFire approval as adhering to the requirements laid out in the California Forest Practices Rules. Currently, SPI is proposing several new THPs. Sleepy Hollow THP is a 220-acre timber harvest currently out for public comment which includes 207 acres of clearcuts. Its harvest area is located approximately one and a half miles west of Beardsley Dam.
Another currently active THP, Wild West, consists of 362 acres of clearcutting and 223 acres of fuel breaks. This harvest area is located due south of Calaveras Big Trees State Park and four miles south of Big Trees Village in Tuolumne County. These clearcut areas will be replaced with industrial tree farms known to be fire prone and will be an added threat to these communities and the area’s crucial ecosystem.
Wood Pellet Biomass Plants, including one in Tuolumne County
Golden State Natural Resources Inc. is proposing to build two plants in California that convert wood from our forests to wood pellets. They say only waste wood from thinning operations will be used at the plants. One of these plants will be located near Jamestown in Tuolumne County. The biomass wood pellets produced locally will then be shipped by rail to the Port of Stockton and then overseas likely to countries in Asia and the EU where they will be burnt for electricity. This project is being sold to the public as a green energy project whereby our forest can grow back, thus letting nature replace any forests lost.
What we aren’t being told:
To be profitable most of the wood converted to pellets has to come from saw logs not just waste from thinning byproducts.
The quantity of whole logs required to keep this plant operating necessitates clearcutting forest areas, leaving fire-prone even-aged tree plantations.
Air pollution produced by this plant will contribute to degrading the air quality in mountain communities already suffering from some of California’s poorer air quality.
While this pellet plant will create some jobs, most of these jobs will be low paying, dangerous forestry jobs producing a product that does not benefit the local community.
The carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases produced by the burning of pellets is 50 percent more polluting than the burning of coal, further contributing to our climate crisis.
The Jamestown pellet plant would require about 40 trucks per day to keep these plants operating, further stressing County roads and highways, and increasing traffic.
Pellet plants have a history of spontaneous combustion caused by the pellets stored on site, causing additional fire risks.
Using harmful methods to cut down our forests and then using fossil fuels to ship our forests to the other side of the world to be burned is not a friendly environmental alternative.
Instead of this largescale biomass plant, smaller scale gasification plants could be built instead to address the need for processing forest material from thinning projects similar to the Blue Mountain Wilseyville Biomass Plant. The energy produced could benefit the local community, better paying jobs could be offered, and the char products could be used in ways to sequester the carbon in uses such as for as soil amendments. The technology to mitigate climate change exists, and this is the time to implement it.
Given all the above concerns, the EPFW Board voted to oppose the construction of this biomass pellet plant and to join with over 100 other environmental groups to voice our collective opposition to this plant. To solve the world’s climate crisis, we need to increase the amount of healthy, diverse, and resilient forests on earth, not speed up the process of deforestation and greenhouse emissions that will result from investing in the wood pellet industry.
EPFW’s Monthly Environmental Movie Series
EPFW has started a monthly movie series as free community service with donations welcome. Beginning January 14th, we plan to show documentary, and environmental films on the second Sunday of the month at 1:30. We have partnered with the Douglas Flat Schoolhouse Community Center in hosting these events. EPFW has our own projector, movie and sound system and are now set for future movie showing adventures.
Our first movie “Burned” was shown on October 20th. This movie exposed the negative impacts of the biomass industry on Eastern United States communities and forests. The movie was followed with discussion, and brought our attention to the potential negative impacts of the proposed Jamestown Biomass Plant currently under consideration.
We plan to show the movie, “Elemental, Reimagine Wildfire” by Trip Jennings and Balance Media at our January showing. This film won the 2022 Best Director award at the Golden Gate International Film Festival.
Bringing back the Sierra Film Festival to the Murphys area next year is also under discussion.
As with the documentary film showings, if you have any thoughts or would like to help with setup/cleaning/donations, we would appreciate hearing from you.
Calaveras County Zoning Update
The Calaveras Planning Coalition has been engaging in the County Zoning Ordinance update and shared a small victory for our forests. The County is proposing to change the Timber Preserve Zoning to now require a special use permit to change the zoning to residential. This means there will be additional oversight in the future when, due to climate change making it more difficult to maintain their unsustainable logging practices, SPI decides to begin selling off their unproductive lands. This is especially relevant for their lands closer to communities, such as off Moran Road and adjacent to Big Trees Village.
Membership Dues
Membership begins in January of every year. Dues for a family are $25/year and $15/year for individuals. If you are not yet current, you can either pay online at our website or we’ll always accept a check in the mail.
Website: www.ebbettspassforestwatch.org Mailing Address: EPFW PO Box 501, San Andreas, California 95249
EPFW Board and Staff Changes
Joyce Techel, one of our long-serving members stepped down from the EPFW Board this past year. All of us here at EPFW want to thank Joyce for her dedication and participation in EPFW. Her leaving will surely leave a void. With Joyce’s leaving, we have an opening on the Board for anyone interested in joining our team. We’d love to hear from you.
Lastly, we have a new staff member in Megan Fiske who will be our new staff forest advocate. Megan’s duties will include researching forestry issues, enhancing EPFW’s education and outreach activities, working to develop stronger forestry policies, collaborating with other environmental groups, and reviewing local forestry-related projects and policies. You will be seeing her at environmental meetings, in letters to the editor, and postings on our social media pages. Megan is a long-term resident of Tuolumne and Calaveras Counties with an excellent environmental advocacy background and we are thrilled to have her onboard.
Our Current Board Members
Perry Metzger, President (916) 320-2657
John Trinkl, Vice President
Anne Calderwood, Secretary (209) 795-8260
Zerrall McDaniel, Treasurer (209) 304-6837
Addie Jacobson, Member at Large
Thanks to all of you who continue to support the mission of EPFW. You are the backbone of our organization as we continue to work for the preservation of the unique and critical nature of the Sierra Nevada.
Best Wishes,
Perry Metzger, President
