254 



Statement of Jim Owens 



Forests, Family Farms, and Energy Subcommittee 



September 10, 1992 



Page 9 



the sole remaining viable andent forest elements in the redwood belt 

 which is both unentered, and unprotected. A timber cruise conducted 

 by a registered professional forester and Himiboldt State University 

 students determined in 1990 that the monetary value of Headwaters 

 Forest was under $200 million. Biologists claim that as a watershed 

 and habitat corridor, it is priceless. 



The Headwaters Forest is the among California's four remaining 

 habitats for the marbled murrelet, a rare sea bird which nests orJy in 

 oldgrowth trees, and which has been proposed by the U.S. Fish and 

 Wildlife Service for listing as a threatened spedes. The murrelet 

 requires large, undisturbed coastal watersheds to evade predators, as 

 well as dense canopied forests for nesting. Murrelets in the 

 Headwaters Forest depend upon Humboldt Bay and the adjacent ocean 

 coast for food, and are frequently found just offshore in large colonies. 



According to U.S. Forest Service biologist C.J. Ralph, up to half 

 of California's murrelet population might perish if Headwaters Forest 

 is logged. Repeatedly the California State Board of Forestry has dted 

 the need to retain murrelet habitat as its prindpal reason for denying 

 Pacific Liunber timber harvest plans which proposed logging in the 

 Headwaters Forest. 



