Editor:
I am devastated by the recent logging next to Murray Road between McKinleyville and Fieldbrook. This stretch of road was once the most beautiful in McKinleyville, a lush tunnel of forest unspoiled by development — unlike the roadway approach from Central Avenue, where commercial timber harvesting and the clearing for the Beau Pre development have been perhaps less shockingly visible.
I was told that this is a fire-prevention project by Green Diamond. It’s hard to comprehend the rationale of replacing the normally fire-resistant mature coastal forest typical of our area with the highly flammable Pampas grass and unshaded small-diameter trees which colonize Green Diamond’s cut-over land.
Forest management readers, please help explain this.
Joyce King, McKinleyville
This article appears in Gold in the Cracks.
