CSERC Sides With U.S. Forest Service
Sonora, CA — The Phase II Fuel Reduction Forest Health and Road Management project will proceed as scheduled despite the appeal of two “out of the area” environmental groups.
Sierra Forest Legacy of Sacramento and the John Muir Project of Cedar Ridge have appealed the project on the basis of protecting species such as the California spotted owl.
Locally John Buckley of CSERC, the Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center, agrees completely with the U.S. Forest Service project, “One of the groups (John Muir Project, Cedar Ridge, CA) that is appealing this and has appealed a previous project is focused entirely on trying to maximize keeping the forest for some of the species that really need a dense, thick stand of trees and we respect that, but we think there’s a lot of other balance that needs to be brought in to decisions about the forest.”
The approximately 5,600 acres included in the project is located in the Stanislaus National Forest between the Tuolumne River and the Dodge Ridge area to include Rush Creek, Hull Creek and Wrights Creek.
The U.S. Forest Service says bids for the project will going out within the next month.
Written by bill.johnson@mlode.com
