Union Democrat -- Greenhouse effects of clearcutting is debated

A battle of words is heating up as environmentalists and the state's largest timber producer countdown the days to a critical state court decision on timber harvesting in California.

ForestEthics and Ebbetts Pass Forest Watch unleashed a report Thursday detailing the potential negative effects of Sierra Pacific Industries' logging practices on global warming.

According to the report, deforestation is second only to fossil fuel emissions in causing greenhouse gas emissions.

"SPI's clear-cutting, and conversion to plantations, has been known for a long time," said Susan Robinson, of EPFW. "However, this report shows for the first time, the magnitude of this destruction and its undeniable impact on global warming."

The environmental groups were beaten to the punch, however, by an SPI-produced report released last week which argued that "intensive forest management" stored carbon at almost twice the rate of an unmanaged forest.

This all follows a March 5 state Supreme Court hearing where EPFW and Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center argued a lawsuit against SPI and their logging practices in the area.

The lawsuit — which the court has not yet ruled on — challenges the approval of two timber harvest plans submitted by SPI and approved by the California Department of Fire and Forestry. It alleges SPI and Cal Fire failed to analyze the cumulative impacts of the proposed harvests and failed to analyze the impacts of proposed pesticide and herbicide treatments on those harvests.

"When the decision comes, win or lose, we'll get a release out immediately," Robinson said.

According to EPFW and Forest Ethics' report, scientists have shown that logging removes more carbon from the forest than any other disturbance, including fire.

"They are completely wrong," Mark Pawlicki, SPI spokesman, said. "We will offset 877,000 automobiles because of our forest practices."

Documents filed with the state show that SPI intends to clear-cut two-thirds of its property over a span of 80 years, according to EPFW.

"We don't disagree that trees store carbon," Robinson said. "But that's about all we agree on."

"We think all of the forest is under-managed," Pawlicki said. "There is an unnaturally large fuel buildup in the forests."

Pawlicki said that the company's land management practices follow strict guidelines and are approved by Cal Fire, the California Department of Fish and Game, and the state Water Resources Control Board.

"Clear-cutting diverse forests and replacing them with even-aged plantations takes us in the wrong direction," said Warren Alford, the community forestry coordinator for the environmental group Sierra Forest Legacy.

"It leaves our forests and communities more vulnerable to unwanted fire and pest infections."