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http://news.excite.com:80/news/ap/000315/19/logging-rules Updated 7:56 PM ET March 15, 2000 Calif. OKs Temporary Timber Limits By JOHN HOWARD, Associated Press Writer SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Forestry officials seeking compromise unanimously approved six-month rules Wednesday to limit tree cutting near Northern California's rivers and streams. The state Board of Forestry's action drew mixed reviews from loggers and a quick hit from environmentalists. The board said it will develop permanent rules to take effect in 2001 and will base those rules on an exhaustive examination of logging's impact on fish and wildlife in fragile watersheds - something loggers, fishing interests, scientists and environmentalists urge. "This is not the last word in deciding this issue," said Louis Blumberg, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry. The rules are part of the elaborate system of regulations, enforced by the state Department of Forestry, governing tree-cutting on millions of acres of private forests. Their most significant provisions appeared weaker than the proposal that had been before the board for weeks, and which resulted in protests by loggers and environmentalists. Originally, the rules sought logging limits near virtually all types of streams - those with fish, those with aquatic life other than fish and those that are seasonal. The new rules focus only on the fish-bearing streams, the so-called Class I streams. The rules require loggers to leave at least 85 percent of the forest canopy within 75 feet of a Class I stream, and at least two-thirds of the canopy within the next 75 feet. California's top forestry official said the new regulations were not weaker than the original proposal. The latest rules offer major environmental safeguards, such as new restrictions on cutting trees on steep slopes and limits on winter road building and timber operations, said Andrea Tuttle, director of the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The rules also set requirements to leave certain large trees standing, and limit the amount of water than can be removed from streams during timber operations. The goal is to provide shade and cool water for the streams and rivers to protect coho salmon and steelhead trout habitats. Environmentalists say the canopy protection is not consistent, requiring only a fourth of the cover to come from tall pines and other conifers - which provide more shade over a longer reach than smaller trees. And loggers contend the limits represent a severe financial hardship on tree cutters. The canopy zones are measured from the water's edge, but that edge changes regularly. "It's still a huge impact on private landowners, especially those who own river bottoms and valleys. The problem is in the stream migration zone, the natural widening and narrowing of the stream. That can be from a quarter-mile to two miles," said Dave Bischel, president of the California Forestry Association.
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