Berkeley, California: Residents from Sierra Nevada communities, Sierra Club members and forest critters rallied today to oppose clearcutting outside a talk by timber tycoon Mark Emmerson. Emmerson is Chief Financial Officer of Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI), the nation’s second largest logging company and California’s largest land owner. The protestors dressed in animal costumes and held signs calling on Gov. Brown to end destructive clearcutting.
“Our specatcular Sierra Nevada forests provide clean water, fresh air and are home to amazing wildlfe- but not if they are clearcut to pieces,” said Karen Maki of the Sierra Club. “Governor Brown needs to put a stop to the robber baron theft of our pubic resources by timber companies like Sierra Pacific Industries.”
SPI owns 1.7 million acres—the equivalent to the land areas of Contra Costa, Napa, Alameda and San Mateo Counties combined—is cleaarcutting much of it at an unprecedented rate and scale. The clearcuts threaten important watersheds like the headwaters of the Mokulemne River, which provide drinking water for East Bay residents. Water pollution from clearcuts also threatens to undermine extensive Central Valley salmon recovery efforts and the region’s fishing economy.
But the damage does not stop there. The forests of the Sierra Nevada help clean the air we breathe and provide homes for animals like the Chickaree squirrel which needs forests with old trees to survive. The loss of natural forests can also have negative long-term impacts on our economy.
“Our community benefits from sport fishing, tourism, hiking, and boating. Clearcutting threatens these recreation-based industries, uses fewer workers than other forms of logging, and is devastation to the region,” said Patty Gomez, a Shingletown resident who lives one mile from a clearcut and a member of the Battle Creek Alliance.
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ReplyDeleteThank you