Timber Harvest Workshop for Watersheds

Timber harvest workshop to present process for protecting watershed and streamlining permitting Using light-touch timber harvest practices to streamline permitting will be the subject of a free half-day workshop hosted by the Mattole Restoration Council (MRC) and Sonoma Land Trust. To be held Thursday, November 17, from 1–5 pm at the Finley Community Center (2060 West College Avenue, Santa Rosa), this workshop will present the success of MRC’s Program Timberland Environmental Impact Report (PTEIR), a process that simplifies timber harvest permitting — making it quicker, simpler and cheaper — in exchange for landowners using lower-impact practices, such as selective harvest, wider riparian buffers and old-growth protection. This workshop is designed for foresters, agencies, nonprofits, members of the general public and students.



At the workshop, MRC’s Seth Zuckerman and Hezekiah Allen will present their successful Mattole Forest Futures Project, which covers more than 150,000 acres and 900 landowners, and describe the benefits and provide tips for other groups that pursue a PTEIR.

“As the second-growth forests of the Mattole approach loggable size, we wanted to create a way for landowners who choose to harvest to do so without setting back the watershed’s recovery,” says Zuckerman, MRC executive director. “This project is an effort to use the steering wheel, not the brakes, to influence the management of private forestland in our basin.” Allen and Zuckerman will also be joined by forester Bill Wilkinson of BBW Associates, one of the principal authors of the PTEIR.

“This workshop is very timely,” says Amy Chesnut, Sonoma Land Trust acquisitions director.

“The high cost of managing forestland is a huge issue for landowners here in Sonoma County and we appreciate the Council’s efforts to share their recent PTEIR experience with us.”

Funding for this project has been provided through an agreement with the State Water Resources Control Board.

To reserve a place in this free workshop or for more information, contact Julie Jehly at julie@sonomalandtrust.org<mailto:julie@sonomalandtrust.org> or (707) 526-6930 ext. 114.

About the Sonoma Land Trust

The Sonoma Land Trust preserves scenic, natural, agricultural and open land for future generations. Since 1976, the Sonoma Land Trust has protected more than 26,000 acres of beautiful, productive and environmentally significant land. For more information about the Sonoma Land Trust, please visit www.sonomalandtrust.org<http://www.sonomalandtrust.org/>.