Hare Creek South Side

Entering logged area Note scraped earth and pile of slash on right

Aftermath of logging Rejected log and piles of debris and slash border road. Open canopy and small trees ahead on right.

Typical condition after logging. Debris will be left and persist as piles of dried slash. Open canopy and dried slash both increase fire risk.

Open canopy and plies of small trees and slash Typical condition after logging. Debris will be left and persist as piles of dried slash. Open canopy and dried slash both increase fire risk.

Logged area will remain impassable for decades Sun will beat down on the slash, creating tinder for fires.

The cables are hard to see, but not the slash left behind. Cable yarding is used on slopes to streams to reduce sediment loading of streams, but no logging would avoid sediment altogether.

Cable yarder ahead The cables are hard to see, but not the slash left behind. Cable yarding is used on slopes to streams to reduce sediment loading of streams, but no logging would avoid sediment altogether.

Another area piled full of slash What appear to be small trees on the right are tops of trees that are too small to yield milled boards.

These small trees will yield small amounts of low quality lumber. Their removal destroyed the fragile redwood forest ecosystem.

A premature death for baby trees These small trees will yield small amounts of low quality lumber. Their removal destroyed the fragile redwood forest ecosystem.

This tree started growing a hundred years ago, perhaps earlier, and was still in its infancy. Few of such large second-growth trees remain anywhere. In a public forest, they should be preserved.

A prized timber tree This tree started growing a hundred years ago, perhaps earlier, and was still in its infancy. Few of such large second-growth trees remain anywhere. In a public forest, they should be preserved.

What tractor logging does to the forest Skid roads need to crisscross tractor-logged areas, leaving scraped earth behind.

What tractor logging does to the forest Why log an area that contains only small trees?

Several decent sized trees Note all the deciduous trees, which grew up in an area cleared by previous logging.

These barriers are unnecessarily large. They make the trail impassable for cyclists and unappealing for hikers. But, then, who would want to recreate within this devastation?

Erosion barriers on skid trail These barriers are unnecessarily large. They make the trail impassable for cyclists and unappealing for hikers. But, then, who would want to recreate within this devastation?

CDF logged right up to an adjoining a house. CDF has NO concern for its neighbors, only for the amount of money they make.

Trip Report

South Side of Hare Creek After Logging

Forest Near Residential Area Devastated

June 2000

After the trip to the north side of Hare Creek, I returned to view the results of the logging on the south side. The photos tell the story -- the destruction of a forest, especially dramatic in areas of tractor logging, but even in areas where cables were used to remove the logs, the canopy is destroyed and the ground littered with slash. Also shown is how CDF logged right up to the backyard of, at least, one of its neighbors. By the time I was done touring the area, I felt as devastated as the landscape.

Vince Taylor

Addendum 2021

CDF is planning a similar massive timber harvest in Mitchell Creek, close to a another residential area.

A new campaign to protect OUR redwood forest has arisen. If you are as outraged as I by CDF's behavior, you can help stop the destruction by joining the New Campaign to Restore Jackson State Redwood Forest.