Bodega Land Trust offers to protect the Clar Tree

West Sonoma conservation group, the Bodega Land Trust, has offered to help protect the 2,000-year-old Clar Tree, a redwood ‘monarch’ near Guerneville that stands more than 340 feet tall.

The tree, the tallest in Sonoma County, is at serious risk of damage given its location within the proposed 224 acre Silver Estates logging zone.

While the tree itself will not be felled, experts believe that the proposed logging of surrounding trees may damage its root structure and make it more vulnerable to strong winds and fire.

The non-profit Bodega Land Trust has written to the timberland owner, Roger Burch, with an offer to protect the tree by placing a conservation easement on land around the tree.

In a letter, Mary Biggs, board chair of the Bodega Land Trust, noted that “the Clar Tree holds great significance to the people of Sonoma County as the tallest known living redwood in our county.” The Trust would like to see a buffer zone placed around the tree that is as wide as the height of the tree.

The proposed logging plan, called the Silver Estates Timber Harvest Plan (THP), was filed with the California Dept. of Forestry (Cal Fire) in June 2000. It is widely opposed by local Guerneville residents and experts, who believe the plan will increase fire and landslide risks and destroy a highly sensitive ecosystem along the Russian River.

Cal Fire has postponed making a decision on the plan but records show that very few THPs are denied.