What’s wrong with clear cutting Fern Gully?
Song: Timber Harvest Plan 01-446, otherwise known as Fern Gully, is comprised of three acres located on a slope directly above Freshwater Creek and Garfield Elementary School, and private homes. At a 30-80% slope, clear cutting would remove the vegetative matter that holds the ground in place and absorbs the heavy seasonal rains. Below, Freshwater Creek is an already impaired waterway under the Clean Water Act. Clear cutting this area would likely result in the washing down of formerly rich forest soil into the creek, further impairing its ability to host the native salmon population. Destabilizing the slope above homes and an elementary school is also risky in an area already known for landslides. Fern Gully represents some of the last of the ancient rainforest that stretched up the western coast of North America not even 500 years ago. There is currently about 3% of our land’s old growth forest remaining. The area is home to coastal redwoods, Douglas fir, and Sitka spruce aged 500-15
