Mountain Resource Group

Regarding the proposed logging of 1000 acres near Lexington Reservoir by San Jose Water Company:

WHEREAS, the Lexington Reservoir was built in the 1950’s to provide water for the population of the Santa Clara County area by meeting the need for human utility and consumption, and

WHEREAS, the San Jose Water Company and the Big Creek Lumber Company have proposed logging around Los Gatos Creek, which is the source of water for two local water districts and the Santa Clara Valley Water District water which is stored in Lexington Reservoir, and

WHEREAS, forests produce and preserve water through a complex array of trees, shrubs, ground covers and roots slows runoff from rain and snow, and water is purified as it percolates though the soil and into aquifers.  By slowing runoff, forests also reduce floods and erosion, minimizing the sediment entering streams and rivers, and

WHEREAS, logging frequently causes the deterioration of a watershed, thus contaminating drinking water supplies, and

WHEREAS,   logging large merchantable trees from forests frequently increases the risk of forest fire, and

WHEREAS, it is important to prevent the reoccurrence of fire devastation such as the 1985 fire in Lexington which consumed 14,000 acres, 42 homes, and caused the evacuation of 4500 people and approximately $7 million in damage, and

WHEREAS, our forest resources are a resource which enable a biodiversity of species, water which is cleaned by filtration through forest soils, critical oxygen supplies that combat global warming, and contribute greatly to the environmental health of our planet, and

WHEREAS, logging frequently fragments and degrades wildlife habitat such as for the endangered California red-legged frog as well as osprey, Cooper’s and Sharp-shinned Hawks;

THEREFORE, let it be resolved that The Loma Prieta Chapter of the Sierra Club opposes the San Jose Water Company’s and Big Creek Lumber’s stated plan to log large merchantable trees along Los Gatos Creek.