Sediment Yield Response to Sediment Reduction Strategies Implemented Under a Habitat Conservation Plan During a Decade of Operations on Industrial Redwood Forestlands in Northern California

Industrially owned timberlands located in the erosive sedimentary terrain of the northern coast of California have been extensively roaded and several generations of redwood dominated forests have been clearcut since the 1860’s.  Intensive watershed and property-wide studies of sediment processes have documented significant sediment impacts from past management activities within the past 50 years.  For the past decade, the landowners have been managed the industrial timberlands with low impact forest management practices designed to reduce sediment delivery according to voluntary agreements and regulatory requirements of state and federal agencies. To reduce sediment, forest operations now include geologic hazard avoidance and an extensive road upgrading and removal program that collectively have minimized landslide and road erosion identified as the dominant sediment sources. Over the past decade, sediment transported from watersheds and the physical characteristics of streams thought to be responsive to sediment inputs have been continuously monitored at a number of locations.  This paper reports on the sediment reduction in the watersheds and associated water quality and habitat conditions that may be evident in the relatively short monitoring record.