-- Campaign For Old Growth

PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The Heritage Tree Preservation Act establishes a new class of trees—heritage trees—on non-federal forestlands in California and calls for these trees to be preserved in perpetuity.

The Heritage Trees protected under this act represent only about one-half of one percent of trees standing on California’s non-federal forestland.

PROBLEM & NEED FOR THE BILL
97% of California’s old-growth trees have been logged. Today, there are so few old-growth trees left in California that we need to preserve every one that remains.

There are currently no state or federal statutes that protect these trees. They often remain because they were uneconomical to remove or were out of reach of prior forestry technologies. They are now at threat by modern forestry methods.

These trees are all within the oldest one percent of California trees, representing a historic continuum from 1850 CE back to perhaps 2700 BCE.

It is critical that we preserve these trees in order to reestablish species and age diversity in California’s forests.

WHAT THIS BILL WOULD DO
The Heritage Tree Preservation Act mandates that trees that were alive in the year California became a state (1850 CE) and that meet species-specific minimum diameter requirements shall be preserved.

The Act protects Giant Sequoias, Coast Redwoods, Douglas-firs, Port Orford Cedars and other species on non-federal forestland.

The Act makes provisions for land owners who already protect large, old trees in compliance with an existing timber harvest plan approved by an independent certification organization.

The Act will strengthen California’s economy and environment by increasing property values, decreasing risk of fire and insect infestation, cleaning our air and water, providing habitat for endangered species, and contributing to the sequestration of carbon emissions.

BILL STATUS
Introduced 2/24/06

What is “old growth”?
One common internationally used definition is “trees standing since prior to the onset of large scale industrial logging in an area.” This definition works particularly well in regions with species that are long lived. Industrial logging in California began around statehood in 1850 and shortly thereafter. The State Board of Equalization defines “old-growth trees” as being 150 years old.

“Old growth” has become a vernacular term, not a term of forestry or biologic jargon even though biology and, sadly, forestry are factors in old growth.

It is not useful and is disingenuous to co-define “old growth” with “late seral”. Doing so removes the definition of “old growth” from the generally understood meaning and leaves us without a terminology that describes old growth as distinct from late seral or includes those non-forestry values that must be evaluated under CEQA . There is room for separate definitions of “late seral,” “ancient forest” or “old growth stand,” and “old growth.”

An “old-growth tree” does not mean an “old-growth stand,” nor does it mean a tree of any young age within an old-growth stand.

An old-growth tree does not cease to be “old growth” if the trees around it are logged.

An old-growth Valley oak is “old growth” even though it is not part of a stand.
Many Giant sequoias do not occur in the density to meet some stand based definitions.

There are Bristlecone pines on the periphery of the Methuselah Grove that are over 3,000 years old that would not be included as “old growth” under some stand based definitions.

A tree does not have to stop putting on wood or be decadent to be “old growth.”

How many of the old-growth trees do we need to protect?
When there is a large percentage of old growth trees of a particular species, spread over a large area, the pressure on preservation is lower. When the remaining old growth trees are down to the last few percent, the need to preserve all that remain is high. Several of the species covered in this bill are nearly endemic - They are mostly found only in California. Take old-growth Coast redwoods: Perhaps 3/4 of all remaining old-growth Coast redwoods are protected. Yet the number that remain is so low that old-growth dependant species are heading towards extinction for lack of habitat. Not only can we not afford to lose any more old-growth Coast redwoods, we need to find a way to recruit additional habitat before the dependant species die off. We cannot do that without protecting the remaining old growth trees. There are so few old-growth trees left in California that we need to preserve every one that remains.