Within a few years, hikers may be able to enjoy the view from the top of Strawberry Rock — without first having to break the law. Green Diamond Resource Co., the logging company that owns Strawberry Rock and the surrounding forest, is working on a deal that would give the public legal access to the land.
In February, Green Diamond held a community forum in Bayside where it announced plans to protect Strawberry Rock by creating a conservation easement around the rock, the path to the rock, and 24 acres of forest next to the trail that had been destined for cutting. The total easement would be 38 acres of protected land, free for public use.
Green Diamond reached out to the Trust for Public Land, a nonprofit that finds money for projects like this. The logging company does not know exactly how much money the land is worth, but spokesman Gary Rynearson gave a rough estimate that it would take less than $1 million to compensate Green Diamond for the property it would not get to use and the timber it would not harvest.
Right now the Trust for Public Land is eyeing Caltrans for money from its Environmental Enhancement and Mitigation Program, said John Bernstein, the trust’s North Coast program manager. That is a pot of $10 million annually that goes to a number of environmental projects related to transportation. Because Strawberry Rock is just off Highway 101, Bernstein thinks this might apply. The trust has not submitted an application yet, and Bernstein won’t say how much it will ask for, but he is “pretty optimistic” about getting some money. “We’ve been pretty good at getting grants from them in the past,” he said.
Bernstein said Green Diamond will likely need other sources of funding. The company has also approached the Coastal Conservancy, a state organization that works to protect resources near the coast. “We think that it’s a good project, but we’re not sure it’s the project for us,” Coastal Conservancy Project Manager Joel Gerwein said. His concern is that Strawberry Rock is too localized a landmark; it does not have statewide appeal. Gerwein mentioned, though, that the conservancy might contribute a portion of the funding if a significant amount of the money comes form somewhere else.
Bernstein estimates that advocates for Strawberry Rock access will need to find three or four different sources to get all the money together. He does not have anything else specific in mind; they’re still exploring their options.
Efforts like this normally take between two and five years, Bernstein said. So while the project is in the works, it will probably be a while before the “no trespassing” signs at the entrance to the trailhead come down.
Even though Strawberry Rock could be protected from logging, environmental groups are still protesting. Several people are camped in the trees near Trinidad right now. Why? “The first thing is about their forest practices,” activist Jack Nounan said. Environmental groups like Earth First! and Friends of Trinidad Forests are primarily calling for Green Diamond to stop clearcutting and switch to selective cutting, taking no more than 2 to 3 percent of the trees in an area at a time.
The activists also worry about Strawberry Rock. “We want 640 acres; we want the whole square mile (or one section) around Strawberry Rock saved,” Nounan said. The public is already using the land Green Diamond would be giving up in the easement, he added. The “no trespassing” signs have never stopped people from trespassing to get to Strawberry Rock.
The Yurok tribe, on the other hand, is satisfied with Green Diamond’s plans. For the Yurok, Strawberry Rock is a spiritual place with deep cultural significance, and Yurok Heritage Preservation Officer Robert McConnell met with Rynearson to talk about the easement a few weeks ago. The Yurok want to keep the area as much out of the spotlight as possible, so more tourists are not drawn to the rock. “We were trying to work behind the scenes,” he said.
So when Bay Area photographer Jack Gescheidt announced plans to make the rock the highlight of his latest project, complete with more than 70 naked volunteers and a rented helicopter, McConnell sent him a letter asking him to please reconsider.
Gescheidt’s “Tree Spirit Project” uses art to try to raise awareness about forests in danger of being cut down. He takes photographs of nude subjects with the at-risk trees to try to draw the attention of the community and activists. “If people become increasingly aware of where their products come from, it diminishes the demand,” Gescheidt said.
After Gescheidt announced his plans to stage his photo shoot at Strawberry Rock, McConnell wrote him a letter explaining its significance. “Since time immemorial the place known as Strawberry Rock and surrounding lands have held high cultural significance to Yurok People,” the letter said. “The Tribe feels that the action[s] you are proposing to undertake at this site are highly inappropriate.” The letter ends by asking Gescheidt to reconsider his plan and calls the event an “insult” to the area and the Yurok people. McConnell notes that all his contact information was on the letter. “He didn’t even bother to pick up the phone,” he said.
Gescheidt said he was surprised by the letter and the Yurok’s feelings about his project. “I was surprised that nudity was such a big deal in Native American culture,” he said. He was also surprised that the Yurok were upset about him going to the rock, “but what about Green Diamond, who is going to destroy an entire forest?” Gescheidt went ahead with his project, and did the photo shoot on top of Strawberry Rock.
“He is a non-native, not from here. It’s not his cultural site. He didn’t even ask,” McConnell said. “All he’s trying to do is sell his pictures.”
McConnell said that it would be respectful for everyone who publicizes Strawberry Rock to ask the Yurok first, and that people who hike it for fun should be respectful of its value to the tribe. “I wish I could go out there and talk to everybody and impress upon them the spiritual significance,” he said.
This article appears in Star-Spangled Rainbow.
Nudism is NOT about seeing or being seen. It’s about de-stressing, relaxing, and returning to innocence. It’s about accepting yourself and others for who you are, how you act, and what you say, rather than what you look like, wear, or own. If you’re looking to ease your way into the nudist lifestyle, nudist resorts , nudist beaches and nudist dating site (Google DatingwithNudist.com) are available that offer a slightly less adventurous experience.
Ms. Hamann, suggests that the issues around the Timber Harvest Plans (THP) of Green Diamond are all but resolved at this time due to the foresight and goodwill of Green Diamond company. Ms. Hamann interviewed the principal parties: Green Diamond, The Trust for Public Lands, the Yurok Tribe and local forest activists, therefore we assume that all parties have been heard in this dialog. Unfortunately, this issue is far from resolved and our group, concerned Trinidad residents, have yet to be heard in this important discussion that affects us in our back yard.
The fact that Green Diamond had plans for five separate THPs that virtually ring Strawberry Rock is a fact that local citizens were unaware of until relatively recently, otherwise they would have demanded public hearings on the matter. Until forest activists began tree sitting, the citizens of Trinidad were ignorant to the fact that Green Diamond already had CDF approval on five THPs and set in motion a conservation plan that had no public input whatsoever. At least in the McKay tract negotiations there has been public input for the past two years to develop a comprehensive community conservation plan.
As a result of the effort of forest activists, the citizens of Trinidad have become informed of Green Diamond’s clear-cutting plans and, as a result, have organized a citizen’s action group called the Trinidad Community Forest Coalition. We have some concerns that have yet to be addressed. As a group we’ve met with a representative of Green Diamond and expressed our concerns. We commend Green Diamond for its conservation easement proposal for Strawberry Rock, the hiking trail and the 27-acre set-aside – this is a community-minded effort that demonstrates the company’s interest in conserving a valuable community asset. On the other hand, we believe that further conservation efforts are possible and we wish to discuss these options with the company. The Yurok tribe has indicated that this is “a spiritual place with deep cultural significance” and elders of the Trinidad Rancheria have indicated that this has historically been a place of “women’s medicine” worthy of protection.
While Strawberry Rock may not be a pristine forest like the McKay tract, it deserves as much effort to save it by the communities of the Northcoast who love this natural & spiritual landmark. At this time we urge Green Diamond, the Trust for Public Lands, the Yurok Tribe and other interested parties to have an open public discussion on the fate of this precious gem of the Northcoast in the hope that we can create a community forest – a natural asset preserved for our children’s children.
Larry Goldberg, Trinidad
Jan & Jack West, Trinidad
Clarence Goldberg, Trinidad
Chakeeta Marie Garabedian, Trinidad
Jeff Musgrave, Trinidad
Leslie Zondervan-Droz, Trinidad
Eileen Kitayama, Arcata
Bill Nelson & Martha Davis, Trinidad
Elliot Levin, Trinidad
It wasn’t about the nudity, it had nothing to do with that. It was the total lack of respect. Indians aren’t prudes, they just don’t want a bunch of nude yahoos staging a photo shoot on sacred ground and drawing the wrong kind of attention and detrimental further use of that area. It would be like a bunch of nude yahoos doing a photoshoot in a church that the Christians were trying to save. Think that would go over well? It’s distasteful and disrespectful to the church, just as it was to the Indians. You can’t blame them! They are wanting to preserve the sanctity, the sacredness of spiritualism and preciousness of tradition and history to that area in protecting that area itself. Many blessings to them and protection of all that is sacred to them!