Logging trucks to be re-routed from Boulder Creek neighborhood

In what can be a considered a win for neighbors, a proposed logging operation near Boulder Creek Golf and Country Club has shrunken its scope and chosen to send trucks carrying logs on a different, less inhabited route.
Santa Cruz County Supervisor Bruce McPherson’s analyst Robin Musitelli reported that an amended timber harvest plan, now numbered Timber Harvest Plan 1-13-082SCR, has been submitted for approval to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The project shrank from 112-acres to roughly 56 acres and the haul route has been changed from a route on Bloom Grade Road and West Hilton Drive to a route that traverses an upper haul road on the Kaylor property that connects directly to Little Basin Road.
“I think it’s going to reduce opposition of the plan,” Musitelli said.
The previous plan had been opposed by more than 50 neighbors due to the use of Bloom Grade Road and West Hilton as the logging truck route. McPherson’s office opened talks with the forester and Cal Fire and asked them to accept comments, even after the comment period had ended. Neighbors contended they had not been properly noticed and were not aware of the project until the application was nearly complete.
Musitelli said the new plan is being re-circulated for public comment, and includes mitigations for the Townsend’s big-eared bat and will be considered by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Comments about the revised plan must be received by May 5.