April
30, 2009
To: Cal Fire, Santa Rosa, California
From: Judge William A. Newsom (Retired)
Subject: 1-06NTMP-011SON (Bohemian Grove)
I write in opposition to the subject Timber Harvest Plan filed
with your Department on behalf of Bohemian Grove.
This proposal, which asserts the need to cut annually over a million
board feet of redwood trees - many of them old-growth - is purportedly
based on considerations of fire-safety
It is well-recognized that redwood trees are among the most fire-resistant
in existence. The whole proposal strikes me as a thinly disguised
attempt by a very affluent group to increase its income by harvesting
and selling one of the last 2 great stands of old-growth redwood
trees in Northern California. It is, in my opinion, the ecological
equivalent to the harvesting of the Armstrong Grove with its many
Heritage redwoods.
This plan has been preceded by a campaign of intimidation and
harassment of critics which I find both frightening and unprecedented.
The background may be perused in the May issue of Vanity Fair magazine.
I hope the Department will resist, what I have no doubt, will
be a massive campaign to turn this precious property into a permanent
tree farm to benefit an association which is hardly in need of
public subsidies.
Sincerely, |
