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Report rips PL habitat plan - U.S. study links cuts, silt, erosion By David Anderson The Times-Standard ELK RIVER - A scientist's report on the proposed Pacific Lumber Co. habitat conservation plan says it is inadequate to prevent landslides and stream damage. PL officials questioned the objectivity of the report. Hydrologist Leslie Reid, who prepared the report for the Envir- onmental Protection Agency, also warned that the government could be legally liable if the 50-year plan is approved and property damage follows. "Because the plan defers cumulative impact analysis until after (its) approval," Reid said, "It appears that under the 'no surprises' clause American taxpayers would become fiscally responsible for addressing the impacts." Residents rallied here at a bridge over the rain-swollen Elk River on Wednesday to draw attention to the report and emphasize that extensive clearcutting has resulted in heavy siltation of the river and damage to their property. They said the flooding backs up their contention. "When you log steep hillsides and then burn them, it will end up running into the creeks and filling them with silt," said resident Ralph Kraus. "Dr. Reid has validated our years of eyewitness ac- counts with impeccable science." Reid, who works for the Redwood Sciences Laboratory of the U.S. Forest Service, is a specialist in cumulative watershed impact. In response to a query from Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, she wrote that the measures proposed by the draft plan would not pre- vent continued heavy erosion from logged areas. "Several important sources of sediment - surface erosion near the smallest channels, logging-related landslides on planar slopes and gullying of small channels - are not adequately considered by the plan," she wrote. "And proposed strategies for controlling the sources that are considered -logging-related landslides on inner gorges and road-related failures, are not adequate or timely.ä PL and other timber companies contend that logging itself does not cause erosion or landslides, most of which they say are natural occurrences in a rainy, geologically unstable area. But they agree that old, inadequately maintained logging roads contribute heavily to erosion. Reid said that removing vegetation over large portions of a watershed creates "pervasive hydrological changes ... that result in increases in peak flows." Increased siltation and higher peak flows means bigger and more frequent floods, she said. That not only damages downstream prop- erty but destroys salmon eggs and fry, increases bank erosion and silts up estuaries. She said the company's proposed management of its land will decrease the survival chances of salmon spawned upstream on U.S. Forest Service land. ãThe provisions of the Northwest Forest Plan are defeated if the fish produced on public lands are destroyed by adverse conditions in habitats through which they must migrate," she said. Reid warned that the PL habitat plan is likely to be used as a model for most other timber company habitat plans for conserving coho salmon in this region. That would "appreciably reduce" the likelihood of coho salmon surviving here, she said. PL President John Campbell said the plan has been extensively reviewed by state and federal regulatory agencies, and that it will adequately meet the requirements of the Endangered Species Act and other environmental legislation. "We recognize Dr. Reid is a good scientist," Campbell said Tues- day. "But we're disappointed she appears to have abandoned her scientific objectivity in this review. · I think on this particular review, it's important to understand that this is the opinion of just a few scientists."
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