
California
Maintaining Essential Habitat
The health of forests cannot be measured by trees alone, but must take into account the wildlife that inhabits them.
The North Coast of California offers some unique wildlife habitats, which require special attention.
In 1990, we hired a wildlife biologist to study the impact of timber operations on wildlife in our forests -- particularly the northern spotted owl. This groundbreaking scientific research and monitoring program led to the development of an effective means to sustain populations of spotted owls during timber operations.

As a result of this pioneering research, our California timberlands were the first privately owned timberlands in the nation to be awarded a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) for the northern spotted owl by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. An HCP is a voluntary forest management plan developed in cooperation with the landowner and numerous governmental agencies. HCPs provide habitat protection beyond that required by current state forest practices regulations. In June of 2007, we successfully completed an Aquatic HCP covering several aquatic species on our lands in California.
These ground-breaking Habitat Conservation Plans, which incorporate the best of science and resource management techniques, are the foundation for our approach to manage our lands on a landscape scale. They are summarized in our comprehensive Forest Management Plan. We want to look across our landscape and employ rigorous standards and practices to enhance and protect habitats for numerous species, protect water quality, mitigate the impacts of harvesting, and grow healthy and productive forests.
Our natural resource professionals have been engaged in research for decades assessing and guiding our forest management and sustainable production. It is important to understand that no one harvesting method is appropriate for all areas and forest types. Through their studies our scientists have found that wildlife, in particular northern spotted owls, can thrive in areas where there is a mosaic of habitats across the landscape. This mixture of tree sizes and ages combined with stream buffers and other habitat set-asides create a complex landscape where the wildlife and fisheries have the opportunity to prosper.
On a good portion of our lands, we have found that even-aged management (the removal of most trees in openings from 5-30 acres), where suitable and carefully applied, is an effective means of ensuring prompt reforestation and rapid growth of new forests. This is especially true for growing Douglas-fir and redwood – species that need lots of direct sunlight to grow most rapidly. Even-aged management also creates the important mosaic of complex habitat for wildlife and fisheries.
Below are reports that company scientists produced to aid us in evaluating the proper forest management on our lands:
- Response of Wildlife and Aquatic Resources to Even-Aged Management in Coastal Northern California
(Lowell Diller, Ph. D., July 2012)- Peer Review of: Response of Wildlife and Aquatic Resources to Even-Aged Management in Coastal Northern California
(Gary Roloff, Ph. D., Michigan State University, September 2013)
- Peer Review of: Response of Wildlife and Aquatic Resources to Even-Aged Management in Coastal Northern California
- Vigorous Young-Stand Development On Green Diamond ‘s California Timberlands
(Dan Opalach, Ph. D., June 2012) - Review of Green Diamond Resource Company’s Timber Harvest Operations and Forest Management Activities As They Relate to the Rate of Harvest and Cumulative Watershed Effects
(Matthew House, M.S.; Ryan Bourque, M.S.; David Lamphear, June 2012)
Forest management elements not covered by our Habitat Conservation Plan, such as silviculture and other practices, are provided for in the California Forest Practices Rules. See this webpage for more information.
Green Diamond Resource Company California Timberlands Management Plans
- Forest Management Plan (updated 09/02/2020)
- Forest Management Waste Discharge Requirements
- Aquatic Habitat Conservation Plan (AHCP)
- Final Environmental Impact Statement for the AHCP
- Forest Habitat Conservation Plan (137mb - Updated: 10/10/2019)
- Forest HCP Consistency Determination (Updated: 10/10/2019)
- Safe Harbor Agreement for Humboldt Marten
- Master Agreement for Timber Operations
- Road Management Water Discharge Requirements (WDR) from Water Quality
- Historical Permits, Plans and Agreements
- Northern Spotted Owl Habitat Conservation Plan (NSO HCP)
- Northern Spotted Owl HCP Consistency Determination (Updated: 10/10/2018)
- Foothill Yellow-legged Frog Incidental Take Permit (21mb - 7/17/2018)
Green Diamond Resource Company California Timberlands Monitoring Reports
- Forest Habitat Conservation Plan Annual Report - Updated 6/2021
- Marten Safe Harbor Agreement Annual Report - Updated 6/2021
- Annual Summary of High Conservation Value Areas Monitoring - Updated 10/2021
- Summary of 4-5 Year Stocking Surveys - Updated 6/2021
- Aquatic Habitat Conservation Plan Biennial Report - Updated 6/2021
- Osprey Monitoring Results - Updated: 06/2021
- Annual Year-end Summary Report for the Botanical Season - Updated 06/2021
- Road Management Waste Discharge Requirement & Master Agreement for Timber Operations Annual Work Plan - Updated 06/2021
- Road Management Waste Discharge Requirement & Master Agreement for Timber Operations Annual Work Report - Updated 06/2021
- Four year Master Agreement for Timber Operations (MATO) Status Report - Updated 05/2018
- Elk River - Master Inventory of Sediment Sources and Road Related Sites After Completion of Treatment Annual Report - Updated 06/2021
- Elk River - Water Quality Trend Monitoring Annual Report - Updated 06/2021
- Elk River - Landslide Monitoring - Updated 07/2018
- Pesticide Use Report - Updated 6/2021 (c)
- Annual Social Impact Monitoring Report - Updated 10/2021
- Socio-economic Monitoring Results - Updated 10/2021
Matrix of Monitoring Reports by Indicator - Updated 06/2021
Please email us at fsc@greendiamond.com with any questions or comments.