River Otters spotted in Summer of 2024 between Lone Tree Island and Half Moon Trestle
2024 Trail Update and Condition of Slaughterhouse Road
Submitted by Nita T. Ishcomer
The Elizabeth Debusk Babcock Memorial Trail will be opening up to the Public in the spring/Summer of 2025.
The Trail is over 4,600’ long, has dozens of turns and switchbacks.
Starting in the transition pygmy forest, the trail drops in over 500’ elevation to come out right above the Albion River.
3 documentary film makers have been on the trail so far.
Heading up Elizabeth's Trail
Click photos to enlarge
Walking past Redwood heading towards
TeaTime clearing
In 2021-22 the Mendocino Redwood Company logged on both sides of Ravens’ Call, in Slaughterhouse Gulch and Deadmans’ Gulch.
MRC logged heavily and left slash piles and fallen trees all over the forest.
Due to the logging, more wind corridors have increased, leading to more trees being blown down, on MRC property and ours.
Before this Timber Harvest Plan took place, Slaughterhouse Road was the darkest logging road on the Mendocino Coast.
Now, it is opened up, due to the decimation of the forest canopy above the road.
Mendocino Redwood Company's 2021
Eucalyptus and Redwood slash pile
Skid Road on Slaughterhouse Ridge
Three seasons of weathered slash remains
on skidroad behind Raven's Call
INJUSTICE WAS SERVED - 2019-2022 by Zia Cattalini
FOEM’s search for an attorney to argue against THP 1-19-0007 was unyielding.
An organization cannot file a legal challenge in court without an attorney, but individuals can.
I filed a complaint in propria persona.
On the eve of the TRO hearing 10-10-19, an attorney I sought representation from earlier offered to help for a limited time.
Ukiah Superior Court Judge Nadel did not think the Mendocino Redwood Company’s logging would cause irreparable harm to FOEM’s nature sanctuaries and denied our motion for Temporary Restraining Order.
The evidential photos of a 2018 massive mudslide caused by MRC’s deferred road maintenance*, a biologist’s expert declaration and a respected, local botanical consultant’s declaration did not crackle Judge Nadel’s alliance with the timber industry.
*400-450 cubic yards of wet earth slid hundreds of feet below and covered over a quarter acre of Half Moon Trestle wetland sanctuary. Scroll below to see 2018 video clip.
A week after the dismal TRO ruling, I contacted North Coast Regional Water Quality Board, (WQ) concerning the imminent threat logging would cause above Enchanted Meadow.
Impending sediment discharge would negatively affect the tidal, wetland channels that provide aquatic life habitat and access to the Albion River.
Gaping holes where logged trees once stood would permanently impact the esthetic values of this listed California Wild and Scenic River.
WQ agreed to meet with MRC and Cal Fire, sans FOEM’s presence on site to review our concerns.
A preliminary injunction hearing was argued on October 25th 2019, and Judge Nadel again ruled in favor of MRC logging.
In December, our attorney called to say his time representing us was over.
I had two options: substitute in as my own attorney or have our exiting attorney dismiss the lawsuit.
I was in recovery from a two-week bed bound illness and unable to continue the case alone.
Soon after our attorney dismissed our complaint, he received notice that MRC’s counsel had filed a motion to dismiss.
Many thanks to our friends who helped with the litigation efforts: K. Obermeyer, A, Garner, A. Packard, E. Athens, E. Yates, F. Marks, D. Gurney and N. Ishcomer.
FIVE MONTHS LATER IN MID-MAY OF 2020, FOEM received a report from WQ indicating they had met with MRC and CAL FIRE in our area of concern above Enchanted Meadow, the previous November.
We found the report inaccurate and misleading. Diameters of trees MRC planned to remove were far larger than the WQ report claimed.
Impacts from logging unmarked, upslope trees to allow cable logging to hoist out the lower elevation marked trees were not addressed.
The report read “… a total of 15 trees were counted along a 1,500-foot length proposed for harvest from Duck Pond Gulch to Pleasant Valley.
These 15 trees removed over 1,500 feet will be nearly impossible to notice.
All the trees proposed for removal are small and under 12” at DBH (diameter at breast height).
We inventoried, measured and photo documented trees within the area of concern. We found 14 marked trees and two were within MRC’s size range of 12” DBH.
Eight trees ranged between 20”-33” DBH. We apprised WQ of our findings and described the impacts from the loss of larger, upslope, random trees that would need removal to accommodate a cable corridor to pull out the marked smaller cut trees.
WQ revisited the area of concern a second time with MRC and CAL FIRE, as a result MRC’s plans to log a 1500’ swath above Enchanted Meadow were scrapped!
Those empowered to deem a forest’s life or death wisely decided to pack up their chainsaws and leave.
This is a H U G E victory! Many thanks to our out-in-the-field volunteers Rex, Alison, Coyote and canine companions, Sierra, Buck, and Bri Bri who endured hours of hiking, blackberry thorns, poison oak and stinging wasps to scout out the true data.
Fleeting Seal near Duck Pond Gultch, Albion River, EMWS
Looking East towards Macdonald's ranch and Duck Pond Gulch
THP 1-21-00040 MEN, known as the “Below Macdonald’s” plan, was approved July 7, 2021.
The community was generous with contributions and forty-eight forest defenders wrote public comment letters to CAL FIRE opposing Mendocino Redwood Company’s plans to log next to our nature preserves.
I contacted many environmental attorneys and law firms in northern California seeking representation.
On two occasions when prospective attorneys learned the case would be heard in Mendocino County, they mildly surprised me with their response.
One asked “Isn’t that the place where a former judge is now an attorney representing the timber industry?”
Another attorney instantly declined, “No thanks, that’s where the former judge is the attorney for the big timber.”
If Ukiah were a large metropolis, this probably would not be an issue, but considering Ukiah’s size in the heart of timber country with one courthouse and a handful of sitting judges reeks cozy.
MRC’s attorney, was a judge among peers and now an attorney arguing in their court, this juxtaposition of judicial form to an opposing party seems prejudicial, a conflict of interest.
Some folks may think this is just outright corrupt.
With no attorney available, a friend and I filed a complaint in propria persona.
We and volunteers worked very hard at the desk and trekking out in the field confirming data.
Later, a local legal team from Ukiah who held the Albion River in warm regard decided to help and represented us in court.
Over a two-month period Judge Jeanine Nadel juggled the dates of our TRO hearing four times, one delay was reasoned by a seldom used technicality.
All the while MRC voraciously logged the forests destroying wildlife habitat.
Our fifth and final scheduled TRO hearing was December 17, Judge Nadel conveniently moved forward MRC’s future motion-to-dismiss hearing to be heard at the same time.
Our attorney was ill and provided an attorney unfamiliar with our case to stand in, who requested of the court to continue the hearing until our attorney could appear.
Judge Nadel denied her request and granted MRC’s motion to dismiss.
Mendocino Redwood Company’s logging is a great erasure to 35 years of protection and preservation efforts. MRC effectively decimated the once very beautiful and historic Slaughterhouse Road.
MRC cut down most of the mature redwood trees we saved from clearcutting in 1989. Tears.
Downed Eucalyptus on Slaughterhouse Road
Post THP#1-21-00040 MEN Harvest Click photo for more detail
Slaughterhouse Road Redwood Slash
Post THP#1-21-00040 MEN Harvest Click photo for more detail
Many heartfelt thanks to our friends and attorneys who helped us challenge THP 1-21-00040 MEN:
E. Lerman, M. Baldwin, A. Weibel, K. Obermeyer, D. Gurney, N. Ishcomer, K. Perkins, and E. Yates.
Thank you to the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC), Annie Esposito of MEC NOTES, as well as the kind and generous people in our community who donated money to help fund this litigation.
Thank you to those who took the time to write their Public Comment letters to CAL FIRE on behalf of the beautiful Enchanted Meadow environs and the wildlife residents who know this place as home:
N. Ishcomer, D. Browing, E. Athens, G. Chichester, H. Chalfin, M. Athens, A. Weibel, C. Durkee, N. Motolinsky, R. Parfrey, J. Wetzler, J. Rumble, N. Ravitz, K. Schoen, J. Stavely, H. Jacobs, R. Hubacek*, P. Shultz, G. Sterns*, D. Sommer, D. Gurney, D. Dolphin, C. Gurney, L. Helenchild*, Z. Cattalini*, K. Obermeyer, R. Wehren, L. Kiesewetter, M. Kaczorowsky, E. Broderick, R. Ettleson, E. Faber, A. Wellspring, M. Sellers, L. Oja, E. Arutunian-Friends of the Gualala River, N. Ramsdell, C. Swimmer, C. Hart, M. Snyder and K. Batson.
*submitted two Public Comment letters to CalFire
Many thanks to our generous friends who donated to preserving this incredible sanctuary:
Norma leah Andres, Pamela Allen, M.S Babcock, Barbara Barkovich, Myra Beals,
Gordon Black, Harry Blumenthal, Sakina Bush, Regina Cardiff,
Jane Corey, Francesca Ciancutti, Diane Clouse, Jessica Curl,
David Daly, Miriam Davis, Mary Dederer, Norman de Vall,
Dobie Dolphin, Carrie Durkee, Sharon Fee,
James Feichtl, Suzanne Guerlac, Liz Helenchild,
Helen Jacobs, Linda Howe, Richard Karch, Lisa Kellman,
Jamie Kessloff, Richard Kirby, Annie Lee,
Hilda Leefeldt, Gabrielle Levine, Joshua Lowell, Erika Lutz, Toby Malina,
Kirsten McCann, Gary Moraga, Linda Morgan,
Susan McNeil, Nan Motolinsky, Kathleen Murray, Deeann O'Holloran, Jen Olsen,
Winifred Pitrone, Karen Rakofsky, Nick Ramsdell,
Nina Ravitz, Katherine Roberts, Margaret Roberts, Julie Rumble,
Pat Scott, Leah Shirley, Helen Sizemore, Marius Schilder,
Roslyn Stalzer, Jerry Stavely, Judith Stavely, Ginny Stearns,
Annamarie Stenberg, Margaret Stofsky, Sarah Stewart,
See Ya Sand, LLC, Mark Takano, Lawrence Thompson,
Sandra Tilles, Shirley Vernale, Anne Marie Weibel, Tom Wodetski, Merry Winslow,
Betty Lou Whaley, Keith Wyner, Zattu and
Anonymous from Eureka & Anonymous from Mendocino.
2019 Autumn - Winter 2020 onward into 2021...
We have current litigation challenging Mendocino Redwood Company's (MRC) approved
timber harvest plan (THP) 1-19-00070 Men. This THP does not fully disclose the existence of
Enchanted Meadow Wetlands Sanctuary (EMWS). It is only referred to as a seasonal wet meadow- when
in fact it is a year round wetlands and was approved without a botanical survey.
Trees on Left are part of THP 1-19-00070 MEN
- T. Wodetzki Photo, Nov. 2019
This THP denies it's close proximity to a California listed Wild and Scenic River, the Albion, and claims
timber operations probably won't negatively impact the river, which is and has been red flagged as a
303.d impaired waterway due to excessive sedimentation caused by previous logging.
Logging above EMWS begins on the east side of Pleasant Valley Gulch outward along the the Albion
River's south side and easterly into Duck Pond Gulch, over a mile in length of this THP shares a
contiguous boundary with the EMWS!
In 2020 MRC plans to log 296 acres of forest in Deadman's Gulch, one river bend west of Railroad
and Pleasant Valley Gulch, on the Albion River's north side. This cut will negatively impact all three
of our sanctuaries. Ravens' Call is adjacent to Deadman's Gulch, the Albert Cattalini Conservancy is
the lower elevation portion of Deadman's Gulch and river bottom riparian corridor for Deadman's Creek
which flows into the Albion River at Half Moon Trestle, an enclave of the larger EMWS. Half Moon
Trestle was degraded by MRC's massive mudslide due to their mismanaged haul road in 2018. The clean
up ordered by the Regional Water Quality board is still pending.
Trees adjacent to Enchanted Meadow Wetland Sanctuary were scheduled to be logged however they were preserved through volunteer actions in June 2020
2021, MRC plans to re enter Slaughterhouse Gulch (SHG) and further decimate it with a 235 acre
cut. Today if one was to hike up inside SHG from the river bottom you'd find a tangled array of
dead, fallen trees, as if a giant had plucked them up and played pick-up-sticks. You'd discover a “hack
and squirt” ossuary. Poisoned, dead, fallen and standing eucalyptus trees, bone white, the perfect wildfire
tender in waiting to threaten the safety of nearby residents and property on RD 16, RD 18 and Sundew
Lane. Often found in this vicinity are small, dead mammals, tree shrews and moles.
MRC is planning to return to Duck Pond Gulch on the south side of the Albion River in 2021 and
cut an additional 331 acres. EMWS ecosystem is under threat of further degradation by MRC's
logging practices. All our sanctuaries are under threat; wildlife and plant life habitat, water quality and
visual resources will be compromised, irreparably harmed.
Such a forecast is formidable. 860 acres of forest adjacent to our sanctuary lands are slated to be
logged. The collateral damage will be ecologically devastating if we don't defend the vulnerable
wild life, forest and wetland habitat. This is menacing problem that cannot be ignored and a battle that
must be fought.
Mendocino Redwood Company removed ridgetop trees to put in a logging road, reducing the height of the treeline and forest density above the California listed Wild and Scenic Albion River.
We are a charitable non profit organization which is funded by the public's generosity.
Please help us by donating to our legal fund now through PayPal on this website or mail checks to
FOEM, P.O. Box 271, Little River, CA 95456.
If you're interested in volunteering your help to our numerous projects: benefits, fundraising, on site
projects, paralegal and THP analysis, offer professional services or join in our Enchanted Meadow hikes
please contact us at info@friendsofenchantedmeadow.org. Thank You.
2018
Enchanted Hikes
Sunday June 24
Up river to Enchanted Meadow Wetlands Sanctuary
Easy hiking, level land on historic logging roads.
Sunday August 26
Hiking through Ravens Call forest to EMWS
Easy downslope to river, difficult upslope return.
2018 VOLUNTEER STEWARDSHIP
CAMP OUT EARTHDAY WEEKEND
Saturday April 21
Sunday April 22
PLEASE DONATE $15 per Ticket we will email you back a Thank You
with your ticket numbers
CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS
or at ICONS in Mendocino on Albion St.
A quarter of a century ago,
Locked in litigative combat
with Louisiana Pacific Timber Corporation.
What's Afoot Gallery in Caspar hosted,
A Poetry Fundraiser and Bake Sale to help us save the forest.
Today this forest stands, saved from clear cutting; natural habitat areas are permanently protected and stewarded by the activists who rallied against LP's liquidation logging.
The Poets who helped fund our war chest twenty five years ago-
Bill Bradd, James Patrick Donahue, Cynthia Frank
Lydia Rand, Joe Smith, ruth weiss
Devreaux Baker, Gordon Black, Leonard Cirino,
Karin Faulkner, Gerry Grace, Dobby Sommer
Theresa Whitehill.
2016 - February – U P D A T E !
THANKS to everyone who chipped in and bought raffle tickets, every exchange was valued and appreciated.
The combined generosity of community folks, businesses and volunteers made our Winter 2016 Firewood Fundraiser a success. The raffle provided revenues to cover the property insurance
and District Fire Taxes into mid and late 2017.
With this expense no longer an issue we will focus on completing Elizabeth's Trail. This trail will allow for hiking from the Albion River bottom land to upslope conifer forest linking to the pygmy habitat in Ravens' Call, which is the highest of elevation
in the sanctuaries.
Winning Ticket #'s
626- Ed O'Brien, Mendocino Fire Chief won the firewood, he's donated it to the Cancer Resource Center of Mendocino and chosen a Kayaking Day for 4 up Big River, from Catch a Canoe.
142- Liz Helenchild, Dinner for 2 at the Ledford House
149- Liz Helenchild, $100 gift card from Wildfish
465- Gary Johnson, 3 hrs of handyman work from Karl Schoen
205- Don Speer, Ceramic art from Christopher Cisper
610- Penny Alves, 1 hr. Garden consultation by Ellen Athens
529- Derek, 1 hr. Garden consultation by Ellen Athens
490- Larry Johnson, River cruise for 4 from Union Pacific College
470- Cheryl Blume, Victorian Era Bracelet from Button Jewels
104- R. Karch, "Electric Tattooing for Men" by Madame Chinchilla
415- Betty Partridge, $25 gift card by "Edibles by Jacquelyn"
372- Joy Korstjens, Gift cert. for 2 meals at Queenie's in Elk
418- Timber, "Electric Tattooing for Women" by Madame Chinchilla
570- Shirley Frericks, $25 gift cert. from Albion Grocery
132- Danny Barca, $25 gift cert. from Albion Grocery
503- Karen Rakofsky, $25 gift card from Moody's Organic Coffee Bar
518- A. Thompson, Tshirt from World Famous Triangle Tattoo & .......Museum
349- Ginny Stearns, $15 gift cert. from Tote Fete
606- Keri Bourne, "Enchanted Biscotti" locally baked by Zia.
360- Moonlight, "Enchanted Biscotti" locally baked by Zia
Thanks to the businesses and individuals who made this raffle possible by donating outstanding prizes.
Thanks to Edgar and Joshua who donated one summer morning and worked furiously hard and fast to retrieve the last of remaining the windfall fir.
Thanks to ticket sellers, The Cancer resource Center of Mendocino County and the Redwood Coast Seniors of Fort Bragg & FOEM volunteers: Allen, Cloud, Coyote, Daphne, Ellen, Judy, Kathy, Karl, Maria & Zia.
To see our Timeline of activities from the present
to 1989
- CLICK HERE
Currently Greenpath is 3380' in length, zig zags with twenty five switchbacks and forty plus turns. A small work camp was created on the remote site by Nita Ishcomer, a task Hannibalistic in nature. All tools for trail making, necessities for camping and non essentials were packed in by foot. The camp, called Bri Valley was used throughout summer 2017 by our volunteer crew and when unoccupied, was twice ransacked and destroyed by bears.
A vintage attache' case once filled with imported chocolate and teas had one side bashed out and the other grazed with claw marks. The bears deftly removed the tiny tops of small hot sauce bottles and left them empty, unscathed. In contrast the tin cans were ravaged, and ripped open in gnarly, jagged tears and stripped of all paper labels.
They ate everything, left a mess, hid tools and didn't bother to sort the garbage, what nerve! Who do they think they are? Possibly the landlords... they collected their rent and we their temporary tenants humbly took out the trash.
Work on Greenpath will be ongoing through winter and spring 2018.
Many thanks to our local trail volunteers Rex Whipple, Trevor Roycroft, Chris Goodwin and visiting volunteers Rob Cattalini and Mark Babcock who arrived armed with gifts of a metal tine rake and tamper.
Many Thanks to the following people in our community who generously
donated to our annual property insurance renewal through our online
fundraising campaign, mid July, 2017.
Names are in order of receipt of donations:
Rixanne Wehren, Morgan Matthews, Anna Marie Stenberg, Tom Wodetski,
Donna Fiener, Pattie De Matteo, Linda Jupiter, James Heid,
Devora Rossman, Steven Wolfe, Joshua Lowell, Christine Berchen,
Ginny Stearns, Carrie Durkee, Norman de Vall, Liz Helenchild,
Anne Marie Wiebel, Ruth and Joe Sparks, J.J. Anonymous, Lynda Aubrey,
Fort Bragg Garden Club, James Stavely, D.W. Anonymous, and
Helen Jacobs.
Hemitomes congestum – Photo Nita T. Ishcomer
There's less barking in Ravens' Call and trail work on Greenpath is no longer interrupted by bouncing dogs who want to fetch sticks or nestle in the aromatic earth freshly shoveled.
Maggie and Violet, Enchanted Meadow sanctuary dogs passed in 2016. Maggie was buried in Ravens' Call in January. Several months later, near her grave an unusual plant poked it's pink petals through a mantle of decaying tan oak leaves. It was identified as Hemitomes congestum. Violet was buried alongside her beloved companion in November.
In 2017 this plant reappeared, multiplied tenfold, seemingly in floral tribute to both dogs who loved and understood this wilderness community on a frequency we humans are slow to comprehend.
Hemitomes congestum, a dicot, is a perennial herb (mycoparasitic) native to California and found outside California but confined to western North America. Commonly called a Gnome plant, it seems apropos that Gnome plants would appear near Maggie's and Violet's graves for gnomes are dwarfish beings that guard buried treasure.
~ Zia Cattalini
Winter 2015/16 Firewood Fundraiser
Last February's behemoth storm uprooted firs in Ravens' Call, a sanctuary forest of multi-aged mixed conifer and tan oak. One cord of this community defended resource, GMO free and sans chemical poisons is up for raffle.
You need not be a burner of firewood to support this fundraiser. Maybe you're toasty warm with propane heat, pellets, or have 2 cords of dry madrone in your woodshed... The Cancer Resource Center of Mendocino County and the Redwood Coast Senior Center are poised to accept your winnings and give to a deserving client.
Tickets are $5 each or six for $25 and may be purchased at the Cancer Resource Center in Mendocino at 45040 Calpella St., 937-3833 and at the Senior Center in Fort Bragg at 490 N Harold St., 964-0443. Many thanks to the Cancer Resource Center and the Redwood Coast Senior Center for their enthusiastic support.
We are a CA 501 (c3), and your appreciated contributions are tax deductible and will be applied to 2016 operating costs of three nature areas; Ravens' Call, the Albert Cattalini Conservancy and the Enchanted Meadow Wetlands Sanctuary. Raffle drawing is February 20, prize list is available on request at info@friendsofenchantedmeadow.org, Thank you.
Recent Actions 2015 by Zia Cattalini
This February we had a tremendous storm that slammed Ravens' Call forest sanctuary. Windfall damage could be seen through out the Call. Broken branches obscured the GREENPATH, impaled in the earth were branches standing upright.
We are dealing with the storm damage as we work various portions of the trail. Happy to report that the trail itself weathered the storm well, with no wash outs. Our goal this year is to complete GREENPATH. Thus far we are true to our intent of using only hand tools on this project.
A massive conjoined fir in Ravens' Call fell south about 30' in from an elevated embankment onto our road in the ACC. This cleanup will involve chainsaws and we hope to use the salvaged wood for fundraising.
Nita inspects the windfall blocking
the Albert Cattalini Conservancy's road.
Remnant train trestle at Railroad Gulch looking north.
2014
Last October we acquired by gift the Enchanted Meadow Wetlands Sanctuary from the Coastal Land Trust and we are so appreciative of their work as stewards of the wetlands. We are becoming familiar with the area at Railroad Gulch on the south side of the river. It is about 2x larger than Half Moon Trestle and more remote. The entire biology of this fascinating ecosytem is at risk due to Mendocino Redwood Company's plans to log immediately to the south; THP 1-14-080 a whopping spread of 758 acres! This logging will increase sedimentation into streams feeding the river through the wetlands, affecting the salmon habitat.
Thanks to the community input & opposition to this Timber Harvest Plan, a decision to approve or not has been delayed by Calfire and the public comment period has been reopened until 4-23-15.
The Albion community is at risk. Many Homes are near by and there is no secondary egress route for evacuation if a wildfire engulfs Albion Ridge. The wildfire risk is accelerated due to drought conditions. The wildlife habitat is also at risk. There's only one road to enter or exit.
More info is found at www.calfire.ca.gov and please send your public comments to:
