The Sierra Club has launched a campaign against clear-cutting by a logging giant in California.
Two weeks ago the environmental group sent a letter to Sierra Pacific Industries asking it to disclose the area of forests it has clearcut over the past five years and intends to raze this year. Sierra Pacific, which is led by Red Emmerson, is one of the largest landowners in America.
“Sierra Pacific has made a lot of claims about how they are committed to sustainable and responsible forest management. We’re asking them to prove it,” said Sarah Matsumoto, Sierra Club Senior Representative, in a statement. “Clearcutting devastates California forests and wildlife habitat, threatens clean water for Californians and makes wildfires more dangerous for local communities. No company can claim to be ‘sustainable’ and widely engage in this practice, and Californians deserve to know the truth about whether Sierra Pacific’s actions meet their rhetoric.”
Images from http://www.stopclearcuttingcalifornia.org
The Sierra Club says that Sierra Pacific intends to clearcut vast area of California forest.
“Much of the company’s nearly two million acres are destined to be clear cut,” states the group. “That is, they have already been or will be totally wiped clean of trees, shrubs and other living plants, then doused with pesticides before replanting with seedlings that will require decades to mature.”
The Sierra Club is urging the timber giant to swift from clearcutting to selective harvesting, which is says is less damaging to ecological functions and wildlife habitats.
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