'EZ form' timber harvest plans
 for light-touch logging

Frequently asked questions

Background: Over the last two decades, a changing regulatory climate has greatly increased the cost of securing timber harvest permits in California. Non-industrial forestland owners who prefer to log with a lighter touch have been particularly hard-hit by these changes. The cost of permitting has made light harvests less feasible, creating economic pressures to either subdivide large land holdings or leave the forest unmanaged, thereby allowing a hazardous build-up of fuels.

PTEIR: an innovative solution. Program Timberland Environmental Impact Reports (PTEIRs) can offer a route through this regulatory tangle. Authorized by the state Forest Practice Rules (Sec. 1092), PTEIRs include many of the environmental reviews that individual projects would normally undergo, such as wildlife studies, watershed issues, and cumulative effects, saving landowners from having to repeat the same reviews in their log­ging plans. Another advantage is that nearby projects can be evaluated together instead of piecemeal, making the environmental analysis more closely reflect the overall impact.

PTEIRs apply to specific land-management practices in a specific area. Once a PTEIR is completed for that area, landowners can file Program Timber Harvest Plans (PTHPs) if they are proposing to use those practices, with far less paperwork than a regular THP. Logging must still meet the forestry standards in place at the time of harvest. One forester who has prepared a PTEIR and related PTHP estimates the cost savings at 50 to 75 percent.

Coming soon: a Mattole PTEIR. The Mattole Restoration Council is preparing a PTEIR for the entire Mattole basin. The MRC has convened neighborhood meetings and a scientific advisory committee to gather the best local and technical knowledge about the state of the watershed. A steering committee composed of local landowners, forestry prac­titioners and non-profits, and environmental activists is guiding the process at key steps along the way. Because the watershed is so large, it will be analyzed in several parts, each of which may be treated a little differently, depending on local conditions.

The PTEIR will also attempt to take care of other permitting requirements as well, such as Wastewater Discharge Requirements, streambed alteration permits, and biological opinions on endangered species — so that the PTEIR streamlines the permitting process as much as possible. By 2009, Mattole landowners who are working within the framework of the PTEIR should be able to log under a PTHP — like an "EZ" form THP.

The MRC's goal. We advocate the sustainable use of Mattole forests and rangelands as a key foundation of local livelihoods. A PTEIR will give landowners further incentive to use light-touch logging, and may enlarge the area of the Mattole under active forest manage­ment — thereby creating new opportunities for woodsworkers and reducing fire hazard.

A scoping meeting was held Monday, February 11, at 7:00 pm at the Mattole Grange Hall, 36512 Mattole Road, between Petrolia and Honeydew. Representatives of the Calif. Dept. of Forestry and Fire Protection were there, along with the Council and its forestry consultants, BBW Associates of Arcata.

To download the full Notice of Preparation (700 KB), click here. You'll find a description of the kinds of logging that we're proposing to allow under the PTEIR, as well as a discussion of the alternatives we are planning to analyze as part of this EIR.