MRC listens to Comptche concerns

The Comptche Community Hall filled with area residents last Thursday concerned with Mendocino Redwood Company’s timber harvest plans in the area. About 100 people attended the meeting, moderated by Comptche resident Jess Thompson, to talk about issues associated with MRC’s “Halfway to Hell” THP before the public comment period closed March 9. Attendees came from Docker Hill, Rancho Navarro and far east Comptche, as well as from Willits, Ukiah and Albion. Thompson said she organized the meeting to engage Comptche residents on the issues of the practice of “hack and squirt” pesticide application, which can result thousands of acres of dead standing trees. The dead trees become a fire danger that threatens the homes of residents and the safety of the town’s firefighters, she said. The meeting also addressed the question of the cumulative toxicity from decades of herbicide use. “Also, we wanted MRC to understand how widespread the anger in the community is, to see that action is demanded, and to also hear the ideas people have for solving the problem,” she said. Thompson described the meeting as an “inspiring evening of political participation” by concerned area residents. “We heard not only unanimous concern about fire danger, which we anticipated as the most pressing issue and the one with the most widespread consensus,” she said, “but also widely shared dislike and fear of the cumulative damage our community is enduring from herbicides.” Thompson said the meeting was designed to be about problem solving. “We wanted to hear ideas and perspectives about how to tackle the issue, not only to consider in planning, but to get a sense of what kinds of actions the community is interested in supporting,” Thompson said. Joining local residents were representatives of Albion-Little River, Comptche and Anderson Valley fire departments. Ted Williams, ALRVFD chief, attended with Skyhawk. He expressed concern with MRC’s plan. “Albion-Little River Fire Protection District has not taken a position on herbicides,” Williams said. “This is about pre-planning scenarios, but also about encouraging fire safety. If I see a driveway too narrow for our trucks or a water source too far from access, I won’t hesitate to suggest remedy. “The same goes for the forest. If I believe hundreds of acres of brush and dead trees will pose a safety risk to residents, it’s my obligation to ask the appropriate questions before the fire. Timber companies have a right to harvest trees. My community has the right to fire safe forest management.” Williams described the THP review process as “antiquated.” “We can’t ask that the applicant be held to a greater standard than what code allows,” he said. “We require study on impacts to water, fish, bats, owls and all sorts of other important components of the ecosystem, but not the neighboring humans? I’m dismayed.” Thompson said forest management questions do not end with the “Halfway to Hell” THP. There are three other THP’s pending, including a 320-acre plan behind the Smith and Parker ranches on the east side of Flynn Creek Road, another north of the Hollister Ranch and Sky Ranch, and one north of Surprise Valley. “We will keep moving on this, and hopefully Jesse Weaver and Sarah Billig, who attended from MRC, will at some point meet us in the middle with a plan to change the specific practice of hacking and squirting, at the very least by cleaning up the mess it leaves behind,” Thompson said.