257 



Shasta Trinity National Forest 



6. West Weaver II Green Timber Sale 

 7. West Weaver Thin Green Timber Sale 



Ranger District 



Hayfork 



Volume (mmbf) 



2.87 



Project Acres 



308 



Logging Acres 



101 



Location 



These sales are located a few miles northwest of the town of Weaverville in the West and East Weaver Creek 

 drainages on the edge of the Trinity Alps Wilderness. 



Impact 



These sales along with Weaver I (logged in the fall of 1995) were originally part of one larger sale that was 

 planned for 1991 but was delayed because of its impacts on the spotted owl. The sale area is on the edge of 

 the Trinity Alps Wilderness, and cutting units are proposed right up to the Wilderness boundary. It is also on 

 the edge of the Canyon Creek Key Watershed. Because the older stands in adjacent private ownership have 

 already been cut, the Forest Service controls the last remaining older stands in the area. The Forest Service's 

 own specialists have recommended dropping all or portions of units because of their impact on the remain- 

 ing late successional stands, and even suggested retaining as much of this serai stage as possible because "old 

 growth timber is currently not available at the minimum recommended levels." 



Several old-growth dependent species are located in the sale area, including the Pacific fisher and northern 

 goshawk. There will be a direct impact on these species because of the loss of 45 acres of suitable habitat. In 

 the areas where the Forest Service is retaining trees, they are "high-grading" by selecting trees to be cut aver- 

 aging over three feet in diameter and retaining trees averaging one and half feet in diameter. If the intent of 

 a thinning sale is to reduce the risk of fire, then the agency should be removing the smaller understory trees 

 and maintaining the larger canopy trees. Marking in the units shows the opposite to be true. 



Finally, the Forest Service claims that riparian reserve widths for the units will vary firom 100-200+ feet. The 

 flagging in one unit, however, provides a riparian buffer of only 20 feet from the flowing water. 



For additional information: 



Anthony Ambrose, Citizens for Better Forestry 

 707/677 3018 



14 



In one unit, the average nee marked for retention is about 

 18" d.h.h., while the trees to be logged average 38", such as 

 the large tree on the right. (Anthony Ambrose) 



