Timber Holocaust Plans: LE 59 THP#1-08-002 "Scotia Bluffs"

The Scotia Bluffs is one of our local treasures…a beautiful panoramic feature of the small town of Rio Dell. Located along the Eel River, the Scotia Bluffs are part of the divide separating the fork of the Eel and the Van Duzen Rivers.

Overlooking the Scotia Bluffs and the town of Rio Dell alongside the Eel River. Notice the parallel features of the sedimentary layers of sandstone(center right). Nanning Creek runs from the lower left of the photo west to the Eel River. Scotia is on far upper left side of photo.

Sadly, this area is slated to be logged. Pacific Lumber(PL) Timber Harvest Plan(THP)#1-08-002 dubbed “LE 59” threatens to destroy the fragile sandstone slopes bordering Nanning Creek and the Eel River. Destruction begins this Fall 2008.

Notice the layers of sediment and stone that form the bluffs. Locked inside the brittle sandstone are ancient fossils from a prehistoric ocean floor. The vegetation above the bluffs helps keep the steep walls stable. Please do not pull fossils from the walls, this further weakens the fragile area. Fossils are found scattered along the tracks and on hazardous active landslides.

The bluffs are layers of earth that were an ancient seabed, about three million years old.
This ancient seabed became sandstone from the pressure and weight of the earth and ocean on top of it. Over time, this ancient sea bed was elevated by two faults pushing against each other, known as a thrust fault. The collision lifted the layers of the ancient seabed up over the other fault, creating the bluffs. Over a period of time, the Eel River and Nanning Creek carved the steep slopes alongside the bluffs allowing the ancient seabed to be visible to the residents of Rio Dell and to all who pass through here on Highway 101.

These tracks run alongside the Eel River, the easiest and most legal access point to get a closer look at the fossils contained in the bluffs. Please do not pull fossils from the walls, this further weakens the fragile area. Fossils are found scattered along the tracks and on hazardous active landslides.

If you hike the old rail tracks owned by the defunct North Coast Rail Authority east from Eagle Prairie bridge between the Eel River and Scotia, you can get a closer view of these amazing bluffs. You can also find fossils there, most are from GIANT scallops that are millions of years old. Please do not pull fossils from the Bluff’s walls.

What makes the Bluffs THP so destructive? PL plans to log above the ridge along the bluffs. This area also contains some of the last remaining Marbled Murrelette nesting stands.

The angles of the layers change throughout the Scotia Bluffs area. Truly, an amazing feature of Humboldt County.

Imagine the landslides that will be created by this terrible THP. The Eel River is already heavily silted, and Salmon populations are on the decline. Governor Schwartzenegger has declared the North Coast as a disaster area in regards to commercial salmon fishing for 2008. Our salmon cannot survive without clear, cool water. As forests are removed alongside creeks, rivers, and streams, the end result is water temperature increases from the lack of shade from the lost canopy.

Despite the fact that this plan has been approved by California Department of Forestry(CDF), hope remains that this destructive plan by Pacific Lumber can be stopped. We call upon the residents of Rio Dell and neighboring Scotia to stand with us to defend the Scotia Bluffs. We may not share the same views with PL’s employees on forest issues, but this plan WILL affect Rio Dell’s view… quite literally.