Clar Tree protection inadequate

Redwood tree expert and UC Berkeley professor, Todd Dawson, has told the Guerneville Forest Coalition that a 75 feet protection zone around the 2,000 year Clar Tree is inadequate.

The zone around the historic tree is meant to protect it from the proposed logging of surrounding redwoods and Douglas firs as part of the 224-acre Silver Estates Timber Harvest Plan (THP). The 340 feet coast redwood is the tallest tree in Sonoma county and believed to be the tallest tree on private property in the world.

The THP, which is awaiting approval by Cal Fire, would remove many of the surrounding large trees leaving the Clar Tree less sheltered and at greater risk of high winds and fire.

In an email to the GFC, Prof. Dawson noted that a 75 feet buffer zone around a 340 feet tree “would potentially place the edge of the buffer zone too close to the tree’s extensive root system.” He added that “coast redwoods are known to have rather shallow root systems but they extend well beyond the base of the tree and may even 'graft' to other redwoods in the same stand.”

The current proposal would also reduce the above-ground microclimate around the massive tree so that it would likely become warmer and less humid. Coast redwoods do not grow as well under such conditions.

The logging company, Redwood Empire, originally proposed a 25 feet buffer zone around the tree but this was rejected by the California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). The GFC has made it known to CDFW that a 75 feet buffer zone is still woefully inadequate based on scientific data.

The potential loss of the tree would not only impact a sensitive forest ecosystem but also remove a major source of carbon sequestration. According to Forbes, a coast redwood will sequester (remove from the atmosphere) 250 tons of carbon. A typical tree will sequester about one ton of carbon in its lifetime. So, just one coast redwood has the ability to absorb as much carbon as 250 "regular" trees. The mighty Clar Tree, undoubtedly, absorbs much more carbon than most redwood trees.

The giant tree also provides habitat to a number of sensitive species and recent surveys have revealed the presence nearby of a pair of rare Northern Spotted Owls.