Halt the San Francisco YMCA Timber Harvest Plan!
Posted August 23, 2006 / Updated September 5, 2006

• What's happening    
• Why this is important
• What you can do    

The San Francisco YMCA is proposing a very large timber harvesting plan — in perpetuity — at on their Camp Jones Gulch property near Loma Mar in San Mateo County. Please write to California Division of Forestry (CDF) and ask that this plan be denied. Also let the YMCA know you support alternatives to this permanent logging plan.

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What's happening
A timber harvesting plan has been submitted to CDF by the San Francisco YMCA, owners of Camp Jones Gulch. This plan proposes to log 733 acres of the 907 acre property, cutting 60% of redwood and fir trees 18 inches in diameter or larger, on slopes of 5% to 80%. Though old growth trees would be excluded in the first round of cutting, loopholes allow cutting old growth "hazard" trees. The Jones Gulch Grove of old growth and other mature second growth trees provide nesting habitat for the marbled murrelet, a federal and state listed species. The logging permit, if granted, would be in perpetuity, with no further public review opportunities. Every 15 years another round of logging could occur. The first round of logging would entail 400-500 truckloads of logs traversing narrow Pescadero Road and Cabrillo Highway over 8-10 weeks.

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Why this is important
Camp Jones Gulch is used during the school year by thousands of school children, and families and groups during the summer. The YMCA wants to log the property to "increase the timber value of the property, to earn an economic return by operating a commercial forest, and to reduce fire hazards." The logging plan is overly broad, proposes numerous exceptions, includes use of herbicides such as Roundup, does not commit to protection of old growth redwoods, proposes winter operations in sensitive stream zones, and allows logging on very steep and highly erosive slopes. Potential downstream impacts include sedimentation adversely impacting steelhead trout and Coho salmon in Pescadero Creek and Pescadero Marsh. Adjacent Sam McDonald and Pescadero Creek County Parks, and the downstream Memorial Park could also be affected.

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What you can do
The California Department of Forestry (CDF) will be making a decision on this ill-advised plan soon. This is the only time the public can speak up! Once this plan is approved, it is in effect forever.

CGF has been working with the YMCA to let them know there are alternatives to such a large scale timber harvest that allows logging in perpetuity. We've asked them to consider a "Stewardship Plan" for their property instead and to explore with the Peninsula Open Space Trust or the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District to protect the forest and provide some income for maintenance of the camp facilities. So far, the YMCA is not interested in exploring these options.

1. Please write, fax, or email CDF by September 6th and ask them to deny this plan. Send your comments to:

Leslie Markham, CDF, 135 Ridgeway Ave, Santa Rosa, CA 94501
Fax: (707) 576-2608
Email: SantaRosaPublicComment@fire.ca.gov
Important! Be sure to reference Timber Plan #1-06NTMP-014-SMO

2. Please write, fax, or email also to YMCA Camp Jones Gulch and ask them to withdraw this commercial logging plan and to explore other alternatives. Send your comments to:

Bill Worthington, Camp Jones Gulch, 11000 Pescadero Road, La Honda, CA 94020
Fax: (650) 747-0986
Email: bworthington@ymcasf.org.

3. Download the Petition and Flier prepapred by Patty Mayall.

To learn more,
read the September 5, 2006 article in The Mercyry News.
visit Jones Gulch Overview and Logging Impacts.
To read the timber harvest plan, see: ftp://thp.fire.ca.gov/THPLibrary/North_Coast_Region/ and find Plan 1-06NTMP-014SMO, which is in five files. You can also find comments from agencies here.

Thanks for speaking up for open space. Your voice does make a difference!

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