The San Jose Water Company (SJWC) has resubmitted its Non-Industrial Timber Management Plan (NTMP) to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The original plan was withdrawn in December last year to complete a Fire Hazard Assessment.
“We have incorporated a number of measures into the plan that go beyond what is required by California’s forestry laws and that serve to protect water quality and reduce the threat of fire,” said SJWC’s senior vice-president of operations, George Belhumeur.
The NTMP proposes to harvest, in stages, some of the trees from around 1,000 acres of SJWC’s watershed properties in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
The plan proposes to selectively log one unit every two years, with active harvesting taking place for approximately six weeks in each unit. The forest stands will be thinned, not clearcut.
