Thursday, 15 May 2003
Redtree Properties Rate High for Good Practices
Looking out across the heavily forested hillsides of the Pescadero Creek Tree Farm in California it is difficult to determine which areas have been harvested. Over the twenty-six years of Registered Professional Forester Jim Greig’s stewardship of these forestlands, a previously depleted tree farm has been restored to a diverse, multi-storied forest with an abundance of large-diameter trees that produce some of the highest quality lumber in the region. As they close in on five years of certification under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) system, Redtree Properties, L.P. stands out as a leading example of forest stewardship over their 7,079 acre property.
Pescadero Creek Tree Farm, under the administration of Redtree Properties, continues to stand out as a excellent example of forest stewardship. Jim Greig is well-known and well-respected in the Santa Cruz area for his restoration of the property from a degraded, heavily cutover young growth forest to a thriving landscape of multi-aged redwood stands. He combines depth of knowledge and high standards in forest management with a sociable personality and willingness to communicate and cooperate with the surrounding community and wider public.
In highly urbanized Santa Cruz County, forest practices are visible to a large and vocal public. Jim Greig has not shied away from public attention. Greig participates in the Pescadero Coordinated Resource Management and Planning group, a very active group that facilitates landscape-level watershed management across ownerships. Ranger John Kenney of the Mateo County Park Department says “Redtree’s steelhead habitat restoration projects and environmentally sensitive logging practices make them a great neighbor and an excellent example for other managers."
The Pescadero Creek Tree Farm property is composed of temperate coastal evergreen forest, dominated by redwood, intermixed with Douglas-fir, live oak and other species commonly found in this area of California. The tree farm is surrounded by five state and county parks as well as private forest ownerships. First established in 1923 and reorganized to become Redtree Properties in 1972, Jim Greig has managed the company’s forestlands since 1973. Since that time, he has used uneven-aged management, or single tree selection, and the retention of many large diameter trees. Sacrificing short-term profit, he first removed the overabundance of defective trees in order to return the forest to a vigorous state.
Later this year, Redtree Properties will undergo their five-year reassessment for re-certification by SmartWood under the FSC standards. A team of independent consultants, whose expertise will cover ecological, economic, and social aspects of the region, will review field practices and hold extensive interviews and meetings with Redtree staff and stakeholders. “SmartWood is honored to have Redtree as part of our program and we look forward to another five years of partnership," says SmartWood Western Region Manager, Marco Lowenstein.