251 



Statement of Jim Owens 



Forests, Family Fanns, and Energy Subcommittee 



September 10, 1992 



Page 6 



ranch land since the turn of the centiiry. The sediment from upstream 

 logging and roadbuilding which has filled in the Bay has eliminated 

 salmon and steelhead nins in many of the creeks emptying into the 

 estuary. Indeed, the world-famous anadromous fisheries which once 

 were taken for granted in northern California are almost extinct, as is 

 the fishing industry which until the last decade thrived in this area. 



Salmon Creek and Little South Fork Elk River, whose waters 

 originate in the Headwaters Forest, have not been untouched by the 

 destructive effects of logging and roadbuilding. Both of these creeks 

 have suffered corisiderable sedimentation from logging operations; the 

 main channel of little South Fork Elk River was dogged with over 30 

 cm. of silt following the completion by Pacific Lumber in 1989 of a 1.5 

 mile road cutting into the eastern bank of the Little South Fork. 

 Subsequent logging operatioris by the Company removed nearly every 

 large tree 100 feet above and below the road bed, some of which were 

 taken from the streambed itself. 



Trees in the Headwaters Forest are often over 300 feet tall, 

 though 250 feet is a more average height. The largest tree found thus 

 far in Headwaters Forest is over 2,0OC years old and measures 18 feet 

 in diameter, while trees 10 feet in diameter are not uncommon along 



