Short Term Pain, Long Term Gain

Today the Lomakatsi Restoration Project will begin an oak restoration project on our beloved piece of paradise at Two Creeks. Lomakatsi contacted us last spring with a proposal to thin out some of the smaller trees on the property. Their goal is to preserve the big oaks. Sudden oak death syndrome is wiping out the great oak forests of California and so the federal government has provided funding to support the remaining oak forests of the west.  Our property is in a transition zone between the oak forest and the conifer forest and is home to a remarkably diverse range of flora and fauna, including some large and beautiful oak trees. Lomakatsi toured the property with Sequoia, created a restoration plan, applied for and won the federal funding and will carry out the thinning project.  Their plan is to cut trees that are less than 16” in diameter and are under the drip line of the big oaks. 

As you can imagine, Sequoia has been deeply involved with every aspect of the planning process. On Monday, he went on one last tour with project manager to review the first set of cutting areas. He literally approved or denied permission to cut each individual tree.  That’s our man, the Large Lorax; he speaks for the trees.

If you visit next summer, you will definitely see evidence of the work.  Parts of the property may look a bit scalped for the next couple of years.  We planted many of those conifers ourselves and  it will break my heart to see them go.  It’s a leap of faith, but we believe the work will reduce overall fire hazard and encourage the long term health of the forest.  It’s the right thing to do.

On the upside, we are going to end up with ridiculous amounts of firewood, years worth of firewood, plus lots of fir poles, which we hope to use in a meadow rehab project.  James Dean scored a new platform during the OSF strike this year and we plan to demolish and replace the old platform this winter. (About time, right? It’s a miracle it lasted this long.) We also plan to eventually build a pole shelter over the kitchen.  One step at a time.

I’ll keep you posted on the progression of the forest restoration work. I’ll also send out an announcement and request for help when it’s time to demo and replace the platform.  I foresee a very large bonfire in our future.