old growth
An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance (ecology), disturbance, and thereby exhibits un ...
coast redwood
''Sequoia sempervirens'' ()''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995:606–607 is the sole living species of the genus '' Sequoia'' in the cypress family Cupressaceae (formerly treated in Taxodiaceae). Common names include coast redwood, coastal ...
(''Sequoia sempervirens'') groves in the
Northern California coastal forests
The Northern California coastal forests are a temperate coniferous forests ecoregion of coastal Northern California and southwestern Oregon.
Setting
The ecoregion covers , extending from just north of the California-Oregon border south, to south ...
ecoregion near
Humboldt Bay
Humboldt Bay is a natural bay and a multi-basin, bar-built coastal lagoon located on the rugged North Coast of California, entirely within Humboldt County, United States. It is the largest protected body of water on the West Coast between Sa ...
of the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
of
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. Comprising about , it is managed by the
Bureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...
(BLM) as part of the
National Landscape Conservation System
National Conservation Lands, formally known as the National Landscape Conservation System, is a collection of lands in 873 federally recognized areas considered to be the crown jewels of the American West.
The
reserve
Reserve or reserves may refer to:
Places
* Reserve, Kansas, a US city
* Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish
* Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County
* Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...
was established in 1999 (H.R. 2107, Title V. Sec.501.) The reserve was created after a 15-year effort to save the ancient ecosystem (with some trees estimated at over two thousand years old), from being
clearcut
Clearcutting, clearfelling or clearcut logging is a forestry/logging practice in which most or all trees in an area are uniformly cut down. Along with shelterwood and seed tree harvests, it is used by foresters to create certain types of forest ...
.
This reserve of is public land and is under the stewardship of the US Department of the Interior,
Bureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...
(BLM). Of the total area, are old-growth redwood stands, surrounded by of previously harvested timberlands. These were included in the purchase to protect the watershed related to the old-growth forest. The reserve is located about southeast of
Eureka, California
Eureka (Wiyot: ''Jaroujiji'', Hupa: ''do'-wi-lotl-ding'', Karuk: ''uuth'') is the principal city and county seat of Humboldt County in the Redwood Empire region of California. The city is located on U.S. Route 101 on the shores of Humboldt ...
and is managed by BLM officials from the agency's Arcata Field Office in nearby
Arcata
Arcata (; Wiyot: ''Goudi’ni''; Yurok: ''Oket'oh'') is a city adjacent to the Arcata Bay (northern) portion of Humboldt Bay in Humboldt County, California, United States. At the 2020 census, Arcata's population was 18,857. Arcata was first ...
. The logging
company town
A company town is a place where practically all stores and housing are owned by the one company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schools, markets and re ...
of
Falk
Falk may refer to:
* Falk (name), including origin and list of people with this name
* Falk, California, a ghost town
* Falk Township, Minnesota
* Postal abbreviation of Falkirk, an area of Scotland
See also
*Falx (disambiguation)
*Faulk (disamb ...
is within the reserve.
According to the BLM, "the reserve is set aside to protect and preserve the ecological and wildlife values in the area, particularly the stands of old-growth redwood that provide habitat for the threatened Marbled Murrelet,
Northern Spotted Owl
The northern spotted owl (''Strix occidentalis caurina'') is one of three spotted owl subspecies. A western North American bird in the family Strigidae, genus ''Strix (genus), Strix'', it is a medium-sized dark brown owl native to the Pacific No ...
, native salmon stocks, and other old growth forest dependent species..." It also protects stream systems that provide habitat for the threatened
coho salmon
The coho salmon (''Oncorhynchus kisutch;'' Karuk: achvuun) is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family and one of the five Pacific salmon species. Coho salmon are also known as silver salmon or "silvers". The scientific species name i ...
.
Other forest trees in the reserve include Douglas-fir, tanoak, Sitka spruce, western red ceder, western hemlock and red alder. There are limited distribution (CNPS list 4) plants in the reserve, including the heart-shaped twayblade and Kellogg's lily.
The Headwaters Forest Reserve is one of the few remaining refuges for the marbled murrelet, an endangered seabird. Marbled murrelets make their nests on large redwood tree branches between March 25 and September 15. The seabird nesting can be disastrously disrupted by human activity. During breeding season, approximately June 25 to August 1, visitors are prohibited from entering the forest.
It is the only forest reserve in the United States. It is managed as a
nature reserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...
of the BLM's
National Landscape Conservation System
National Conservation Lands, formally known as the National Landscape Conservation System, is a collection of lands in 873 federally recognized areas considered to be the crown jewels of the American West.Pacific Lumber Company
The Pacific Lumber Company, officially abbreviated PALCO, and also commonly known as PL, was one of California's major logging and sawmill operations, located 28 miles (45 km) south of Eureka and 244 miles (393 km) north of San Francisc ...
, under the leadership of
Charles Hurwitz
Charles Edwin Hurwitz (born 1940) is an American businessman and financier known for his role in the 1980s savings and loan crisis, and his takeover of Pacific Lumber Company, a logging company active in Humboldt County, California.
His other hol ...
and his company Maxxam, Inc, as the result of a hostile takeover in 1985. Maxxam, Inc. changed logging policies at Pacific Lumber Company, replacing it with clearcutting. Almost 60 per cent of the reserve was harvested by mostly
clearcutting
Clearcutting, clearfelling or clearcut logging is a forestry/ logging practice in which most or all trees in an area are uniformly cut down. Along with shelterwood and seed tree harvests, it is used by foresters to create certain types of fore ...
; more than of roads were constructed, resulting in more than 100 stream crossings, which greatly degraded watershed ability to store and filter water runoff. The untouched portion is dense,
old-growth forest
An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...
with pristine watershed conditions.
The area was discovered and named in March 1987 by activist Greg King after a solo hike throughout Pacific Lumber's northern ancient redwood holdings. A journalist, King pioneered redwood tree-sitting and staged other direct actions over a five-year period to draw national attention to Maxxam's liquidation of the world's last privately held ancient redwood groves. Headwaters Forest Reserve is the largest area of old-growth redwoods protected as a result of the
Redwood Summer Organized in 1990 by Earth First! and the Industrial Workers of the World, Redwood Summer was a three-month movement of environmental activism led by Judi Bari aimed at protecting old-growth redwood (''Sequoia sempervirens'') trees from logging by n ...
protests.
An agreement between Department of the Interior and Pacific Lumber Company was crafted in September, 1996. The agreement has two main parts: first, it provided $380 million of public funds for the purchase of the reserve. Second, it required a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) be developed and approved to allow limited logging on the remaining of Pacific Lumber Company timberland.An LAO Report, Opportunities and Challenges for the State-The Headwaters Forest Legislative Analyst
Office of the state of California.
Public Law
Public law is the part of law that governs relations between legal persons and a government, between different institutions within a state, between different branches of governments, as well as relationships between persons that are of direct ...
105-83 was the federal legislation authorizing the acquisition. H.R. 2107 was passed by the US Congress in October 1997 which committed the government's share of $250 million of the purchase price. California provided its share of $130 million in Chapter 615, Statutes of 1998 with a requirement of stricter conditions regarding the Habitat Conservation Plan. Specifically, wider no-cut buffer zones, prohibitions on logging in certain areas, and a requirement for watershed analysis. This legislation established a specific boundary with access points, called for joint federal-state acquisition with the Bureau of Land Management, the managing agency and the State of California having a conservation easement, and required a management plan for the forest. The California state easement gives the state oversight responsibility to ensure "all human activities with the Headwaters Forest shall be consistent with the stated goals and purposes..." The
California Department of Fish and Wildlife
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), formerly known as the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), is a state agency under the California Natural Resources Agency. The Department of Fish and Wildlife manages and protect ...
represents the state's interest. Headwaters Final Environmental Impact Statement, Ch.1, p.2 Chapter 615 authorized purchase of two additional portions, the Owl Creek, and the Grizzly Creek properties. It provided Humboldt County, California, Humboldt County with $12 million as economic assistance.
This had been the site of decades of protests called "Headwaters" (1997–2009), a fight against the logging policies of the then-privately owned forest.
See also
*
Death of David Chain
David Nathan ''"Gypsy"'' Chain (June 17, 1974 – September 17, 1998) was an environmental activist. He was killed by a falling tree in suspicious circumstances during a protest in California Redwood Forests against the Pacific Lumber Company.
Bac ...
*
Judi Bari
Judith Beatrice Bari (1949–1997) was an American environmentalist, feminist, and labor leader, primarily active in Northern California after moving to the state in the mid-1970s. In the 1980s and 1990s, she was the principal organizer of Ear ...
*
Julia Butterfly Hill
''Sequoia sempervirens'' ()''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995:606–607 is the sole living species of the genus '' Sequoia'' in the cypress family Cupressaceae (formerly treated in Taxodiaceae). Common names include coast redwood, coastal ...
Forest Reserve Act of 1891
The General Revision Act (sometimes Land Revision Act) of 1891, also known as the Forest Reserve Act of 1891, was a federal law signed in 1891 by President Benjamin Harrison. The Act reversed previous policy initiatives, such as the Timber Culture ...