Lost Camp THP approved

At long last, CDF (CA Department of Forestry) has concluded its evaluation of the Siller Bros. lumber company Timber Harvest Plan (THP) at Lost Camp.

Near Blue Canyon, and south of the railroad, is the historic townsite of Lost Camp. An Eocene-age (ca. 55 million years old) river channel is preserved here, with a body of gold-bearing gravels, similar in age and nature to those at Dutch Flat and Gold Run. In the late 1850s, miners swarmed to the place, a town was built, and Allen Towle of Dutch Flat built a sawmill, anticipating brisk demand. However, the boom swiftly subsided, and but a few miners remained. One of these was Gold Run's Osmyn Harkness, who patented a claim on hydraulic mining ground there in 1872. Later, a hard-rock claim was patented on a quartz vein in adjacent Fulda Canyon, and was worked as the Red Rock Mine. Also, a "tailings claim" was located in Blue Canyon itself, below the Harkness mine.

Trails led away from Lost Camp west into Blue Canyon, east to Monumental Creek, southwest down the Lost Camp Divide (between Blue canyon and the North Fork of the North Fork American River (NFNFAR)) and south, across the NFNFAR, to Sawtooth Ridge and Texas Hill. This last became known as the China Trail.

These several patented claims eventually came under the ownership of Auburn's Wendell Robie, who wished to preserve the historic trails of Placer County. Later, Robie, or his estate, sold to Siller Bros. lumber company. This company is headquartered in the Marysville-Yuba City area, and owns lands scattered across this part of the Sierra, including one or two parcels in Green Valley, on the main North Fork.

In 2003 Siller Bros. filed a THP on its 590 acres at Lost Camp. Since Lost Camp lies within odd-numbered Section 23, I had mistakenly thought it belonged to Sierra Pacific Industries, another lumber company, and had written letters over recent years to Tahoe National Forest (TNF), asking them to try to purchase Section 23, to protect the townsite and the China Trail.

The Lost Camp THP took me by surprise. I went to CDF offices in Auburn and obtained a copy of the lengthy document. The public comment period had already obstensibly passed, but CDF itself had raised some objections to the THP, and while these were being addressed, public comment was still allowed.

Several of us on this email list wrote letters to CDF about the Lost Camp THP. Ron Gould and I explored the more easterly parts of the 590 acres, in Fulda Canyon. Some letters were also sent to Siller Bros., asking them to defer timber harvests there while attempts were made to get the lands there into the TNF "queue" of land acquisition targets. Siller Bros. did not reply.

The Lost Camp THP calls for a rather severe timber harvest. Three canyons cross the 590 acres: Blue Canyon, Texas Canyon, and Fulda Canyon. Within these canyons, broadly speaking, timber has never been harvested, and some truly gigantic Douglas Fir grow in Fulda Canyon, for instance. The THP called for helicopter logging of these three canyons, while ordinary tractor (bulldozer) logging would take place on the intervening uplands, as, for instance, the site of Lost Camp itself.

The severity of the THP is such that, in the upland areas, it amounts to a virtual clearcut, with two to three "overstory" trees per acre left uncut.

It should be noted that within the canyons, where helicopter logging will occur, there will be relatively little disruption of soils. These areas of old-growth timber are too steep for bulldozer logging and are essentially pristine. The steep slopes make for thin soils and the occasional pockets of deeper soils support pockets of heavy timber. Since, individually, these stands of old-growth Douglas Fir etc. are less than 20 acres in extent, they do not fall under CDF's definition of old-growth timber. Hence the extra protections afforded old-growth timber cannot apply here.

Our comments about the THP were rendered less effective, because we had no access to the confidential archeological assessment of the area. However, the concerns we raised, about the townsite, the mining ditches, and the China Trail, caused CDF to make its own on-site evaluation of the archeological resources there.

CDF's Official Response to our concerns is a 24-page document. It also comprises official approval of the (slightly modified) THP.

The main change to the THP is that plans for a major road and stream crossing in Texas Canyon have been dropped. Also, to preserve esthetics, care will be taken to lop logging slash down to within 18 inches of the ground in a zone extending 100 feet to either side of the Lost Camp Road. And finally, care will be taken to remove slash from the course of the China Trail.

The bottom line is that the Lost Camp THP has been approved, and that Siller Bros., by not replying to our letters asking whether they would be willing sellers of the 590 acres, seem, at this point, to *not* be willing sellers.

The Official Response and the THP itself make for somewhat difficult reading, difficult, and frustrating. I raised the issue of the destruction of historic trails by logging, for instance, and in response, CDF provided the pertintent portion of the Forest Practice Rules, which essentially ignore historic trails. However, it looks as though the China Trail itself will be protected from undue damage in this timber harvest.

Siller Bros. owns various lands which are important to the future of our trails and our wildlands. They were on the verge of helicopter logging their Green Valley lands in 1976. They also have minor holdings in the Bear River canyon along the line of an old narrow-gauge railroad which makes a fine trail. I wonder whether we might not make a better effort to engage Siller Bros. in a dialogue about these lands. Perhaps they might become willing sellers, in some cases.

The Railroad-Tracks-in-Space Mine

Over the past few days some of the history of the "Railroad Tracks in Space" mine has emerged, with the help of old maps, a 1902 CA Bureau of Mines report, and the Internet.

This is the mine with nearly-level ore-cart runs running along the side of Fulda Canyon, near Lost Camp, and within the 600 acres owned by Siller Brothers lumber company, where a massive and monstrous timber harvest is planned. Lost Camp is a ghost town, embedded within a complex of hydraulic mines, in Section 23 of T16N, R11 E. The Railroad Tracks in Space, which is properly known as the Red Rock Mine, is in adjacent Section 24, just to the east.

The country rock is steeply-dipping strata of the Shoo Fly Complex, the oldest rocks in the Sierra, here metasediments, along the lines of meta-sandstone, meta-shale, with some chert. It is called a "complex" because it is not one discrete formation, but several. The nearly vertical strata strike north and south and have endured several episodes of deformation. Here they have been intruded by a system of quartz veins which follow the north-south strike, which veins must likely be assigned to that same system which is also found farther west, on the flanks of Sawtooth Ridge and within Humbug Canyon. Many "hard-rock" mines exploited these gold-bearing quartz veins, most notably, the Rawhide Mine and the Pioneer Mine. The source of the quartz may have been the granitic plutons to the north and east, visible around Lake Spaulding and Loch Leven Lakes, which intruded the Shoo Fly and other metamorphic rocks in the Jurassic or Cretaceous.

So much for the geology. Now for the historical evidence.

Around 1900 the first good topographic maps of this part of the Sierra were published, and the renowned Waldemar Lindgren used this topographic base to complete a geologic map of the same region. On Lindgren's map one sees the body of Eocene river gravels at Lost Camp, and, just to the east, a red stripe running north and south, denoting a quartz vein, with a crossed pick-and-shovel symbol, denoting a mine, and the words, "Red Rock."

The CA Bureau of Mines published a "Report of the State Minerologist" in 1902 which lists many of the mines in California, county by county, with tables of information. Here we find the Red Rock Mine to have had a water-powered, ten-stamp mill; a workforce of four men; the mine superintendent being one N.B. Willey; and the owner(s) in Philadelphia. The mine is listed as patented, that is, the lands there had passed from public to private ownership, in a process which involved demonstrating a viable commercial potential for the mineral deposit.

Not all mining claims were patented. For instance, at Gold Run, more than half of the dozens of claims were patented, the rest were not, and it is those unpatented claims which comprise the moderately large BLM holdings in the southern part of the Gold Run Diggings. These claims were never patented because they were "worked out," that is, the miners had finished hydraulicing away the gold-bearing gravel.

Parenthetically, the hydraulic mines at Lost Camp itself were patented in 1872, by Osmyn Harkness, who also had claims at Gold Run. This man Harkness is found in the remarkable record of the 1881 case, State of CA vs. the Gold Run Ditch & Mining Company, in which 27 volumes of testimony were written down. These may be examined on microfilm at the Auburn Library. Harkness gave testimony about the early history of the Gold Run Diggings, remarkable testimony, for, in 1881, he could remember events in 1852 day by day.

Last Friday Ron Gould and I had found the very ditches which supplied the water which powered the ten-stamp mill at the Red Rock Mine. Then, in a telephone conversation, Steve Hunter told me of the remains of cabins higher on the ridge, which may have been used by the miners themselves. The Red Rock Mine was coming into focus.

I chanced a Google on "N.B. Willey" and found references to man of that name who was Governor of Idaho in 1892. It hardly seemed likely that a man would go from being governor to mine superintendent.

It seemed to me that I remembered the name, N.B. Willey, from the old Placer County newspaper articles in my book, the "Dutch Flat Chronicles." So I opened the text file on my computer, and searched for Willey.

I found two items. One was significant:

*******
Colfax Sentinel
October 2, 1896
Gen. Geo. H. Roberts and his son, A.C.B. Roberts, with Gov. N.B. Willey were down from Blue Ca–on Tuesday. The General is largely interested in mining all through the mining country and is one of the owners of the Redstone mine, near Blue Ca–on. The mine has been closed down for a time, but will resume work in a few days.
********

The mine is incorrectly named the "Redstone." Set that aside, mark it off to human error. What's interesting is the reference to "Gov. N.B. Willey." It can only be a certainty that Idaho's governor, and the Red Rock Mine's superintendent, are one and the same.

Returning to the Internet, I found several sites which describe Governor (Norman) Willey's involvement in labor disputes in Idaho. For instance, see

http://www.kued.org/productions/fire/photos_stories/coeur.html

From another site I gleaned the following:

*******
A bitter labor dispute grew out of company efforts to try to operate Coeur d'Alene lead silver mines in face of union opposition to a lower wage scale. Efforts to bring in organized, outside workers, protected by company armies, provoked considerable trouble. (Idaho's state constitution had a provision, growing out of the national railway strikes of 1886, against admission of private armies to the state. But no serious effort was made to enforce the law on this matter.) When the miners discovered that their union secretary also served the companies as a Pinkerton agent, the whole conflict literally exploded. On June 11, 1892, in an open war, a force of miners dynamited an abandoned mill at Gem. At this point, the mine owners prevailed (without any difficulty) upon Governor N. B. Willey (a mine superintendent from Warrens) to proclaim martial law.
*******

So, here was a little about our superintendent of the Red Rock Mine. What about the "General largely interested in mining," Geo. H. Roberts?

I found (using Google) that, during Willey's term of office as governor, in the early 1890s, one Geo. H. Roberts had been Attorney General of Idaho. This is beyond the pale of possible coincidence. But could service as a state Attorney General earn one the honorific title, 'General'? I didn't really know, but I doubted it. Then I struck gold with the following reference to our General George H. Roberts, excerpted from a query on a genealogical site:

*******
... a Civil War veteran who, it is said, was the youngest breveted-General from the Civil War.

His name was George H. ROBERTS and he was "on the staff" of
Gen. Joe HOOKER. He was wounded three times, at least one of those
happened at Gettysburg. All I know of that injury comes from a
newspaper article about his return to Gettysburg for the 50th
anniversary. It says he "took a long walk down a familiar dusty
road ... vaulted over a stone wall ... and walked again through the same
orchard where five decades ago, he had left a crimson trail of his
own blood." (Not much to go on, huh?)

But then this wonderful story: "General ROBERTS was seeking
the farm house where two Pennsylvania-Dutch girls had hidden him and
nursed him after he had staggered wounded through their kitchen
door. Standing at the entrance now and filled with bittersweet
memories, he pulled the bell cord, wondering as he did so if the two
women were still living here ... The door opened to reveal a stout,
comfortably dressed woman, her cheeks had the same rose, wrinkled
bloom as the apples in the orchard through which he had passed.
General ROBERTS removed his hat with a gallant flourish and bowed,
before inquiring for the ladies Ellen and Lizzie RIDENBOUGH who had
lived there as girls 50 years ago. He started to tell her his name
but before he could finish she cried, 'Lizzie, be comin' now. Here's
our George ROBERTS.'"

The rest of what I know about George ROBERTS is that he was
born in Philadelphia on 13 Jul 1841 of Welsh and Quaker ancestry.
His grandfather was said to be the Lord High Sheriff of Wales who
came to PA with William PENN. He joined the Union Army when he was
22 and a student at the Univ. of PA, with his family purchasing him
a commission as 2nd LT.

After the War, he married Julia CULBERTSON, daughter of a
renowned fur trader on the Upper Missouri, and became attorney
general of NE and then the first attorney general of ID.
*******

Such is what I found about the Red Rock Mine. Steve Hunter mentioned debris near the cabin sites which suggests occupation much later than 1896 or 1902. It seems possible that the Red Rock Mine was worked intermittently through the 1930s. The ten-stamp mill is gone, and descending to the ore-processing area, and cutting the lines of the two ore-cart runs, is a kind of bulldozed skid trail, with small trees growing in it. Steve and I guess that this skid trail is coeval with the last timber harvest on Fulda Ridge, which we think occurred in the 1950s or 1960s. No trees were taken from the ore-processing area at that time. We conclude that someone, either the owner of the property, or perhaps one of the logging crew, used a bulldozer to remove the stamp mill.

It is known that Wendell Robie once owned the 600 acres at Blue Canyon/Lost Camp/Fulda Canyon. Perhaps Robie himself had the stamp mill brought out.

Such, then, is a little history bearing upon the Red Rock Mine.

Visit to Fulda Canyon

East of Lost Camp, Texas Canyon descends to the North Fork of the North Fork American River (NFNFAR). Still farther east is Fulda Canyon, with headwaters up above Emigrant Gap. Between Texas and Fulda is what I call Fulda Ridge. To the south and east of Fulda Ridge is that remarkable gorge and complex of canyons, where Fulda, the NFNFAR, the East Fork of the North Fork of the North Fork, Burnett Canyon, and Wilmont Ravine, all converge within a narrow compass of cliffs and many waterfalls.

This makes for one of the strangest topographical features in this part of the Sierra, strange, difficult to get to, wild, strange, and very beautiful. The entire complex of canyons is incised into metasediments of the Shoo Fly Complex, which are all turned up on edge and sometimes folded sharply.

On Friday Ron Gould and I drove up to the Blue Canyon exit on I-80, then south towards Blue Canyon, and east on an unmarked road near houses, just before the railroad is reached. This road-east is being watered for logging trucks, and we followed the wet and freshly-graded dirt down and across the tracks and saw the wetness continue towards Lost Camp itself. So we investigated. Had the Siller Brothers' timber harvest already commenced? But, no. The harvest is apparently on a small SPI parcel farther out on the ridge between Blue Canyon and the NFNFAR. Having found that the great rape of Lost Camp and Fulda Ridge has not started quite yet, we retraced our path and drove out as far as we could on a certain road cut into the line of the old Bradley & Gardner ditch, or Placer County Canal, which was the first big ditch to supply the hydraulic mines of Dutch Flat, arriving there, with bands and parades and speeches and sumptuous repasts, in 1859. Miners marched the streets of Dutch Flat bearing banners aloft upon which were blazoned the heraldry of their individual claims, some with mottos too, like "Root Hog or Die."

We parked at a locked gate in an area where all the large trees had been cut down a year or two ago, and, it would seem, some larger parcel had been subdivided. This is the exact pattern of progress in the middle elevations, the timber regions, of Placer County. Buy the large parcel, cut the timber, subdivide, sell; and then soon after come the gates and the "No Trespassing" signs,

Blithely trespassing beyond the gate, we followed the ditch-road on a meandering course in and out of several ravines at the head of Texas Canyon, until we reached Fulda Ridge. There we dropped away southward.

My 1866 General Land Office map shows a "Trail to Monumental Camp" bearing east from Lost Camp, and an 1862 newspaper article describes this same trail as leading to Onion Valley. Several past efforts to find some shred of the old trail had failed. Ron and I tried yet again, hugging the east side of plateau-like Fulda Ridge as we wandered south through tall pines, cedars, and Douglas Fir. This forest has not long to live. If it is left untouched after the Siller Brothers are through cutting, why, never fear, our grandchildren's grandchildren will live to see something like what is there today.

This pretty patch of forest has already been logged at least twice, the last time forty or fifty years ago, and what with the old roads and skid trails we had little hope of finding our lost trail from Lost Camp to Onion Valley. We did find two small old mining ditches, at around the 4400' contour, and the well-monumented "West Sixteenth Corner" on the line between sections 13 and 24. The lower of the two ditches is the larger and would such a fine trail in its own right. It drew from about a mile up Fulda Canyon, and apparently led to the hardrock mine of the "Railroad Tracks in Space," which Steve Hunter showed me a few weeks ago. I have since discovered that this was called the Red Rock Mine.

After exploring north on the lower ditch, we turned back south and reached a swale with a spring, heavy timber, dogwoods, and an old mining reservoir, and a section of eighth-inch riveted iron pipe, a century or so old. This seemed a likely spot for our lost trail to kiss along the way east to Onion Valley, but we could discover no trace. However, we did find the higher of the two ore-cart-runs, the wide, road-like run, both of which connect the main ore body, on the cliffs to the south, to the ore-processing area, well within shady Fulda Canyon.

We followed the old road with its dry-laid stone walls south to the ore body, where a monstrous quartz vein was stoped out from the ragged sunny cliffs plunging towards the NFNFAR. The vein has the same north-south strike as the strata of the Shoo Fly metasediments, and the same almost vertical dip.

We visited the wonderful Railroad Tracks in Space, where a tremendous view is had of the Gorge of Many Gorges, and then hung from the very railroad tracks while crossing little cliffs to gain the lower ore-cart run. We followed this back north to the ore-processing area, where rather large Douglas Fir, around four feet in diameter, are marked for harvest.

Sorry, our grandchildren's grandchildren will *not* live to see anything like these ancient monsters, after Siller Brothers reap their profits.

Ron and I thrashed north and down to Fulda Creek, arriving between a pair of pretty pools, with much in the way of sculptured rock and little waterfalls, and masses of Five-Finger Ferns, and Indian Rhubarb. After a lunch break we made a scramble down the creek itself to the confluence of Sailor Ravine. Gigantic boulders of the local Shoo Fly were a commonplace, sometimes thirty feet across, and seeming too large, really, for the size of the canyon, but, there they were. We saw ancient Douglas Fir marked for harvest all the way down to Fulda Creek, and on the slopes to the east.

From just below Sailor Ravine we began the climb back up to the flat top of Fulda Ridge, on very steep slopes which seemed to never end. Finally we reached the ore-cart runs and ore body, and from there it is relatively easy going up to the plateau, where we followed a bear trail, with its characteristic deep footmarks, the result of stepping in exactly the same spots over and over again. We followed it north to the Bradley & Gardner Ditch, and then the ditch and ditch-road west, back to Ron's truck.

It was interesting, while crossing a tiny patch of Tahoe National Forest land, to see signs nailed to the trees, warning people not to shoot, and warning that "Dogs Will Bite." These signs are on public land and were placed there by the person who has the cabin down below, and the new gate with the "You Will Be Shot" sign. Log, subdivide, sell, gate, "no trespassing," and now, an added twist, placing signs on public lands.

We never found the least trace of the Trail to Monumental Camp.

Siller Brothers & Lost Camp

Thinking that some attempt must be made to communicate directly with Siller Brothers lumber company, about their lands at Lost Camp, today I sent the following to Siller representative Rick Frey, with whom I've spoken in the past, about yet other Siller properties in our area.

*******
September 8, 2003

Rick Frey
Siller Brothers
P.O. Box 1585
Yuba City, CA 95992

re: Lost Camp, and THP 2-03-040-PLA

Dear Rick,

We spoke on the telephone a few years back, when I called to ask about property belonging to the Siller Brothers near Bear River, here in Placer County. That small acreage is of interest to me because it is along the line of the historic Towle Brothers lumber company's narrow-gauge railroad, which would make a lovely trail from Drum Forebay north into Nevada County.

Today I write about another Siller Brothers property, south of Blue Canyon, comprising 600 acres, and spanning the site of the old mining town known as Lost Camp. Siller Brothers is planning a timber harvest on 590 of the 600 acres (THP 2-03-040-PLA). Lost Camp dates back to the late 1850s, and was a hydraulic mining town. It was connected by road to Dutch Flat, a few miles west, and trails radiated away from Lost Camp to other, more remote mining camps. One of these trails remains in use, the China Trail, which drops south to the North Fork of the North Fork American.

The Lost Camp area is an important part of Placer County's heritage, and the China Trail is a wonderful little remnant of the vast complex of trails which once threaded through Placer County generally, and the high country in particular. Many of these old trails have been destroyed by logging. For several years, without knowing who owns the lands around Lost Camp, I have written letters to Tahoe National Forest (TNF), urging that TNF seek to purchase these lands. I have also brought Lost Camp and the China Trail to the attention of Placer County District Five Supervisor Rex Bloomfield, and to the attention of the Placer Legacy.

Many people are concerned about Lost Camp and the proposed timber harvest. TNF has been purchasing lands in the nearby North Fork American, and elsewhere, for years, using Land & Water Conservation Act funds. I am fairly sure that TNF can eventually obtain funding to purchase the Siller Brothers property at Lost Camp, along with other Siller parcels, for instance, in Green Valley on the North Fork American.

I beg Siller Brothers to look favorably upon these land acquisitions-to be a willing seller-and also to defer timber harvests on these lands for ten years. Experience has shown that the process of obtaining money to make land purchases is slow.

Thanks for your consideration of these matters!

Sincerely,

Russell Towle
*******

Lost Camp

A few years ago I stumbled upon the following reference to Lost Camp, somewhere on the internet. Wendell Robie, noted for many things, being among the founders of the Auburn Ski Club (which built a ski jump at Baxter (!) in 1928), and who was among the originators of the Tevis Cup race from Squaw Valley to Auburn, was also an advocate for public access to the historic trails of this area.

But Robie died and Siller Bros. bought Lost Camp.

*******
Robie wanted to preserve the special heritage of the region, of which he owned a part. He managed the Robie Estate, which owned Lost Camp mine, a hydraulic mining site two miles from Blue Canyon. He was a patriot, blending history and religion in a manner that modern times either dismisses or disapproves. "Among all desirable homelands of the world, it was the will of providence to hold this one to the last, for Americans," he said in 1958 of the Gold Country. "Of this the record of history speaks plainly," Robie said. "Civilized people never lived in this Sierra foothill area before the Gold Rush." Skiing in the Sierra for Robie was a reminder of Providence. "..No experience so reverently expresses the presence of God in our lives, than that majestic and silent beauty He provides with these great mountains," Robie wrote. The Auburn Ski Club established a chapel for services and worship as part of its winter park at Cisco.
In a letter from "these hill slopes of the Sierra," Robie wrote to friends that "from our part, it is plumb regrettable when God made man in His own image that He did not add a little more of brains to go with him."
"We have more knowledge," wrote Robie. "But no more intelligence than the ploughman with a crooked stick as to how to use it."
*******

Lost Camp CDF Inspection

Rich Jenkins, CDF archeologist at Redding, called today, with questions about the exact location of the China Trail. He said a CDF field review of the Lost Camp project is imminent, that quite a few letters have been received, and, furthermore, he intimated that some highly placed political forces had been brought to bear, and that (as a resul) unusually high-echelon CDF personnel would attend the field review.

I have no idea what highly placed political forces were at work.

Rich also verified that the fascinating ore-cart runs out in Fulda Canyon are already in the RPF's archeological survey. He thought they were well within the helicopter-yarding zone, hence, relatively well-protected; for tractor yarding is notoriously disruptive of things like trails (and ore-cart runs).

He also asked about the location of the Chinese artifacts we saw out there at Lost Camp last Sunday.

My impression is that the CDF will require that care be taken to protect the China Trail. However, when I mentioned the flagging we saw, marked "trail," Rich thought that might have only marked a proposed bulldozer skid trail!

I offered to attend the CDF review and show the team the China Trail and all archeological sites I was familiar with, but he said that could not happen without the invitation of the landowner.

Lost Camp THP

Tim Lasko sent this excellent letter to CDF re the Lost Camp THP:

*******
August 13, 2003

William Schultz
CDF
6105 Airport Road
Redding, CA 96002

Timber Harvest Plan 2-03-040-PLA

Dear Mr. Schultz,
I am very concerned about the Timber Harvest Plan 2-03-040-PLA. My concerns
are as follows:

á Many are unaware of this plan and have not had an opportunity to comment.
I ask that he public comment period be extended until the end of September.
á Historic sites, such as the town of Lost Camp and historic trails, such as
the China Trail may be destroyed or lost forever during this timber harvest.
I ask that a CDF archeologist, such as Dr. Garrett Fenenga conduct a formal
site survey to identify and protect these important sites and trails. More
information on these sites and trails is available from Russell Towle (Box
141, Dutch Flat, CA 95714, 530.389.2872)
á The erosion caused by the removal of timber and the construction of roads
and skid trails, particularly in the small tributaries of Blue Canyon and
Texas Canyon, may have a negative effect on the immediate area and the wild
and scenic qualities of the North Fork American River, located downstream.
The effects of sedimentation on the trout and the endangered Foothill
Yellow-legged Frogs are of great concern to me. I ask that all-new road and
skid trail construction be eliminated, or kept to an absolute minimum in
this harvest plan. I ask that all harvest east of the main Lost Camp Road be
yarded by helicopter.
á The removal of the larger trees forming the forest canopy will promote
future fuel loading. I ask that the larger canopy forming trees not be
removed in this harvest plan.
á I ask that all old growth trees, particularly on the East Side of Fulda
ridge not be disturbed.


Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely

Tim Lasko
*******

Let's hope that CDF will require modifications of this plan, which as it stands now is a virtual clear-cut (almost all large trees removed; many new roads, skid trails, landings). More letters would be a good thing. Joel Baiocchi wrote another good one.

The China Trail, and the NFNFAR

Two adventures:

Saturday some eight of us met at Alta, drove up to Lost Camp, and descended the China Trail to the North Fork of the North Fork American River (NFNFAR).

We took a look around Lost Camp first, examining some few of the 590 acres to be logged. Lost Camp was a boom town in 1858, but declined rapidly. Old house and cabin sites are common, and mining pits are everywhere. The THP specifically states that not all trees to be cut are marked, so it is a little strange, to drive past tall Sugar Pines, and know their death sentence hangs over them, even tho not marked with blue paint.

At the trailhead, many trees *are* marked, including one middling large Incense Cedar which escaped the last round of logging, only a couple decades past, and which holds a rare blaze marking the trail. We were surprised to find a bit of flagging marking the trail, although it is never mentioned in the THP.

Something near a mile of walking over a descent of 1300' brings one to the confluence of Texas Canyon and the NFNFAR, the Ladybug Capital of the Universe, where, true to this strangely special place, even tho it is not the time of winter hibernation, many thousands of ladybugs cover rock surfaces and tree trunks in tightly-packed almost motionless masses, while others more or less scamper about everywhere.

A ramble up the river led us to the Pool of Cold Fire, where the amazing Gorge of Many Gorges may be said to begin, and a few of us swam up the long, deep, cliff-bound pool of crystalline, cold water; I nobly swam with one arm above the water, camera in hand, determined to at last photograph the remarkable waterfall and pool in Fulda Canyon, a ways above. I fought against the rippling, ever-strengthening currents and finally dragged myself from the icy grip of the narrow pool, and, quite naked, made the somewhat perilous climb up angling ledges into the Fulda Gorge. Arriving at the great round pool, I raised the camera, clicked the shutter release, and--found that my batteries had expired.

We saw ouzels and heard wrens and there were flowers and cute little garter snakes and the renowned Foothill Yellow-Legged Frogs and the giant Indian Rhubarb with leaves larger than dinner plates, and it was a fine day if rather tame so far as gorge-scrambling goes, and then up the trail we slowly went, and home.

Sunday, I met Steve Hunter for a foray into the NFNFAR, some miles downstream from the China Trail. Last Friday I had visited the good offices of Tahoe National Forest in Nevada City and enjoyed a brief tour of their very remarkable collection of old maps. While leafing through an enormous volume of maps devolving upon the Lost Camp area, I saw several maps of patented mining claims. One of these caught my eye, a lode claim, on a gold-bearing quartz vein, since the map showed a foot trail descending from Sawtooth Ridge to the NFNFAR, crossing a bridge, and at least starting up the north canyon wall, towards Lost Camp Ridge (the divide between the NFNFAR and Blue Canyon). I called Steve to ask him about this trail, as he is the ultimate authority on this canyon, and, not knowing it, he felt, as I did, that it must quickly quickly be known. Hence our foray.

Steve and I drove up to Emigrant Gap and in Forest Road 19, stopping briefly to say hello to geologist Allan James at Tunnel Mills campground, and then continuing past Texas Hill to Sawtooth Ridge. A maze of logging roads was negotiated, past horrendous clearcuts in Section 35 near Helester Point, on SPI lands, and eventually we trundled down a switchbacking jeep trail which had some exciting sections, very jeep-ish, until we were stopped by a ravine. However, our tortuous course had worn away much elevation; we were deep within the canyon, and only about 700 feet or so above the river. We parked at 3150' elevation; the river was somewhat below 2400'.

A steep descent over slippery slopes in a mixed forest of Canyon Live Oak, Douglas Fir, and California Nutmeg, that yew-family conifer with the stiff stinging needles, brought is to the sparkling river about three-quarters of an air mile from the east boundary of the lode claim. The canyon here, as at the China Trail, is incised into almost vertical strata of the Shoo Fly Complex metasediments. They are wonderfully shaped and polished and threaded everywhere with quartz veins, large and small. Trout darted about or hung lazily in the current, facing upstream, easily seen in the clear cold water.

We had a good scramble downstream over the polished rocks, sometimes crossing the river, and admiring soaring cliffs of slate-like rock, with blade-like eminences hundreds of feet above us. We began to sense that we must be nearing our goal, and examined the cliffs and ramparts of rock for old iron pins or bolts, marking the site of our bridge, and thus, our trail. Eventually we set the packs down and struck out more swiftly downstream. Almost immediately we saw a cable stretched across the river, well downstream, and hurried towards it.

Terraces of glacial outwash deposits appeared along both banks, the flat tops about fifty feet above river level. These would date from the Tioga glaciation, around 12,000 years ago; the ice itself did not reach this far down-canyon, but sediments disgorged by the glacier were of such a quantity as to overwhelm the river's ability to transport them, and a kind of narrow floodplain developed. Then the ice melted away, the sediment load diminished, and the river carved quickly down to bedrock, leaving these terraces, wherever topography conspired to protect them.

We saw some small scars and hollows left by ground-sluicing, long ago, in these terrace deposits, and then a 6" riveted iron pipe, used in that ground-sluicing, and then, a chunk of concrete--the bridge! We had found the bridge! And we were directly below the old cable!

However, as we scanned the banks on both sides, what we found was no bridge, but a dam, a low dam, of concrete, reinforced with much odds and ends of iron and steel, including narrow-gauge railroad track, said dam breached by flood events and their tumbled boulders, in the center of the stream, but intact on both banks. Crossing, we found that the dam had diverted the river through a short tunnel, and soon all became clear.

What we had found was the "take" for the water supplying the powerhouse at the Rawhide Mine. There, twin Pelton wheels were fed by twin penstocks. I had always wondered where the water came from. It could only come from the NFNFAR, but, where? Usually Pelton wheels are set up with high "heads," so the water can drop a long ways into the turbine. If the Rawhide wheels were typical, well, a rather long ditch was implied, high on the canyon wall, and "taking" the waters of the NFNFAR far far upstream.

Yet, here were were, not an air mile from the powerhouse, and with utterly no question that this very dam was the one and only "take." Thus there was no very great "fall" to the Pelton wheels, perhaps as little as 100 feet, surely less than 200 feet. We were inordinately pleased by all this and sped downstream, past places where the iron penstock, around four feet in diameter, had been anchored to the very cliffs, past benches blasted out of the solid solid rock, and down to a meadowy area where the NFNFAR bends sharply to the south. There we called a halt. We found a cabin site, with a rather strange and ornate cast iron artifact nearby, and, just above the ditch-line--for here, at least, they had switched from a pipe to a ditch, to move the water along--just above, we found a sort of wagon road, badly overgrown, but suggesting that it was the way all these many materials had been brought upstream to the diversion dam.

So, it was all very good, and shows that, from the Rawhide, an excellent trail could be opened up to the old dam. This is all the more reason to try to secure the passage across private property at the Rawhide, for all this area (except the patented lode claim), like the trail from the Rawhide up to Sawtooth Ridge, is, thank goodness, Tahoe National Forest. But these old trails, open to our grandfathers, are closed to us.

While returning upstream to the dam site, Steve and I noted some large bolts let into the polished rock flanking a little inner gorge, and realized it was a bridge site, and very likely, the very bridge site, with its associated trails, which had lured us down into the magical canyon. But the sun was westering and a long hike led up to the jeep, so we did not take time to look for the trails.

In the fullness of my extreme genius I left the camera in my pack and obtained no photos of the dam or bridge site or wagon road.

I should say that in the vicinity of the dam, up and downstream, are some very nice pools. We swam one of them. They are deep and broad and cold and clear.

We swam one last time before making the steep climb to the jeep, and soaked our shirts in the cold water, and it was not too bad, and not too long, and not too hot, and not too buggy, and so, then, having arrived, it only remained to depart, and make the very long drive back to civilization, at Emigrant Gap.

Such were two great days in the NFNFAR.

Lost Camp THP Breaking News

I have this, from a good source:

CDF reports that, as a result of the 2 comment letters they've received on
this THP raising concerns relative to the plan's impact on historical and
archeological resources, the public comment period is remaining open
indefinitely.

In response to these two public comment letters (presumbably one of them is
Russell's), CDF has (1) requested the RPF that prepared the THP to respond;
and (2) assigned its inhouse archeologist from Redding to investigate for
the presence of archeological and historic sites, and how the proposed plan
would affect these resources.

I think Russell's efforts are having an impact, although it is unclear how
long CDF will keep the public comment period open.

Also, Jim Ricker has found, in recent conversations with CDF officials, that the public comment period is expected to remain open for as many as ten more days.

If anyone wishes to see Lost Camp and hike the China Trail, let's meet tomorrow, Saturday, 10 a.m., at the Alta Store, north of the Alta exit on I-80.

Letter to CDF

Below, my somewhat hurried attempt at a letter to CDF re the Lost Camp timber harvest. The more letters we can get in to Schultz the better. Short letters are fine. Talk the historic townsite, the trail, the need for a longer public comment period, etc. Letters may also be faxed to 530.224.4841; but in any case, remember to use the THP number, 2-03-040-PLA.

*******
August 8, 2003

William Schultz
CDF
6105 Airport Road
Redding, CA 96002

re: Timber Harvest Plan 2-03-040-PLA

Dear Mr. Schultz,

I have now had an opportunity to review the actual Timber Harvest Plan, and the CDF PHI, with respect to the "Andy Siller THP," THP 2-03-040-PLA. I have a number of comments.

First, however, I ask that the public comment period be extended through at least the end of August, and preferably, the end of September, so that many interested citizens can have a better chance to become acquainted with the THP, and offer comments.

Second, I ask that CDF conduct an archeological review of the site. Although I am unable to examine the RPF's archeological survey-it is kept secret, and with good reason-from my reading of the THP and PHI I am inclined to think that his survey was inadequate.

Although historic and prehistoric sites are likely to be scattered across the entire area, the locus of historic mining and occupation was at the town of Lost Camp, in Section 23. From Lost Camp several trails led away to different places. One, the so-called China Trail, is a particular favorite of many people, and gives access to Tahoe National Forest (TNF) lands encompassing the North Fork of the North Fork of the American River (NFNFAR), to the southeast of Lost Camp.

I saw no reference to Lost Camp as a townsite-it "boomed" in 1858-and I saw no reference to the China Trail, in the THP. In fact, in the copy of the THP I obtained from Auburn-Bowman CDF, the trail seemed to have been, somehow, deleted from the more-detailed maps.

This trail is a very important component of our historic trail system in Placer County. The more southern part, across the NFNFAR from Lost Camp, climbing to the summit of Sawtooth Ridge, has already been effectively obliterated by timber harvests, on private lands, administered by CDF.

Concern for this trail goes back to at least 1953, when it was one of sixty historic trails listed in a Placer County ordinance, enacted by the Board of Supervisors, all formally declared to be public trails, and assigning misdemeanor-type penalties to whomever might block such a trail.

I do find the trail on page 30.2 of the THP, which shows the entire extent of the 600 acres involved in the plan, and distinguishes areas of tractor yarding, from areas of helicopter yarding, proposed in the plan. The trail and trailhead can be seen on this map, with difficulty, in the more southeastern portion of that part of Section 23 involved in the THP.

We have had tremendous problems, in Placer County, with our historic trails. They have been gated closed; they have been obliterated by timber harvests; and this process began before 1953. In the Placer County ordinance, each of the sixty trails is referenced to one or more old USGS maps, which depicted that trail. In this case, the China Trail shows clearly on the 1866 GLO map T16N, R11E. So does the town of Lost Camp.

In addition to the various intervening USGS maps of this region, the trail is also depicted on the 1962 TNF map of the Big Bend and Foresthill ranger districts. It is also shown on the current USGS 7.5 minute Westville quadrangle.

Because I am both interested in Placer County history, and concerned about the preservation of our historic trails, and public access to these trails, I have urged, for a number of years, that TNF seek to acquire all private lands in Section 23. By purchasing these lands, both the historic townsite, its associated mining areas, and the China Trail could be protected. They form an important part of Placer County's heritage.

By a twist of fate, as I understand it, the leader of the movement to protect our historic trails, in 1953, was Wendell Towle Robie, of the Auburn Lumber Company; and either Robie himself, or his lumber company, owned the very lands now involved in THP 2-03-040-PLA.

I have been informed by CDF archeologist Rich Jenkins that rather narrow conditions must be met for a historic trail to be treated as a historic trail, in the context of a timber harvest. Perhaps the China Trail does not meet the narrow criteria. However, I asked Rich, and he offered no response: where in the Forest Practices Act does it condone the destruction of "trails," whether they meet the narrow criteria or not?

Now, as to more specific components of the THP.

The Lost Camp mines, within Section 23, are of several types, but all involve placer deposits, likely Eocene in age, and the largest mining areas are relicts of hydraulic mining. Add to these a complex of gullies which look to have resulted from a related method, known as ground-sluicing. I believe there were some drift mines in the area. In both methods, the auriferous gravels were washed through sluice boxes charged with mercury. This mercury not only leaked directly from the sluice boxes, through cracks between the boards, but also leaked out the ends of the sluice boxes, where the tailings were discharged.

Hence many of the smaller ravines in the area are very likely contaminated with mercury, as are the larger streams below, such as Blue Canyon, Texas Canyon (not so named in the THP; Texas Canyon is identified as a Class II watercourse in the THP, and is that stream across which one of the new roads is proposed in the THP. It is to the east of Lost Camp, the town, and has many small tributaries, and many of these tributaries are likely to be contaminated with mercury), the NFNFAR itself (not within the THP boundaries), and Fulda Creek (partly within the THP boundaries, but not actually contaminated from the Lost Camp mines, but rather-and this is an outright guess-by placer mining on the creek itself, upstream.

Therefore, construction of roads and skid trails in the small tributaries of Blue Canyon and Texas Canyon in particular, may remobilize mercury, causing it to move downstream, or have local biological effects.

I have found it difficult to understand the THP, and have had little time to read it and make adequate notes. So, I sometimes recall reading some statement within the THP, but do not remember where in the THP that statement was made. Hence I will not reference many of my comments to page numbers in the THP.

One rationale given for the timber harvest is that, by removing overstory, the smaller trees will be released. This is true. However, this site has been harvested in the not-too-distant past, overstory removed, smaller trees released, and the result, in many areas, is a drastically overstocked stand of small conifers, such that high mortality is now occurring, and a tremendous fuel loading of dead and dry woody material exists. I see this especially within Section 23. The THP also asserts that harvest will reduce fuel loading and thus protect against wildfire. I see no provision for removing the existing dead and down small trees, and suppose that with further overstory removal, i.e., the harvest of the remaining larger trees, even more fuel loading will ensue. If anything, the larger trees should be left alone, and smaller trees removed.

In contrast to Section 23, lands in Section 24 to the east, on the ridge between Texas Canyon and Fulda Canyon (let us call it the Fulda Ridge), contain a nice stand of timber which has been more lightly logged, by selective means, in past decades. The forest canopy was left intact, and there is much much less understory, little brush at all, and every chance that a "cool" fire would leave the larger trees alive. However, being within the THP, this ridge-top stand will likely be decimated, sunlight will flood in on soils disturbed by tractor logging, and a very dense and overstocked stand of small conifers will ensue.

I have explored part of the east side of Fulda Ridge, and have found, on the steeper slopes, and along the area of inflection between gentler and steeper slopes which roughly coincides with the boundary between tractor yarding and helicopter yarding, as depicted in the THP, various old trails and ore-cart haul trails associated with hard-rock gold mining. I saw many large Douglas Fir, one ancient tree near six feet in diameter, and one Ponderosa Pin with an old blaze, and the large bark plates typical of an old-growth tree. I would call these trees "old-growth." There was never any commercial logging down there, only a minor taking of trees, principally Incense Cedar, I believe, for mining purposes, around a century ago.

Taking an educated guess, the lands within the THP, across Fulda Creek to the east, have likewise never been logged to any appreciable extent, and there might be regarded as old-growth stands. However, the THP specifically states that no old-growth stands are involved in the harvest.

The THP also declares that no scenic values are at stake, and that no one would even see the harvest area, except from a plane or helicopter. This is not true. I have been hiking in this area for thirty years, and the scenic qualities are very important to me. Much of this area, for instance, can be seen from Sawtooth Ridge. Fulda Canyon itself is quite remarkably beautiful, with many waterfalls. I much enjoy the views from the China Trail, for instance.

Please create a buffer zone around the China Trail, in which no harvest takes place. I suggest a radius of .25 mile from the trail.

I have been told, by someone long familiar with this area, that the trout fishery on the NFNFAR has been ruined by sedimentation on the main stem and tributaries. I do not doubt but that this is true. It is not mentioned in the THP.

The THP mentions probable negative impacts upon raptors, and states that no Northern Goshawk nests were found in the area. Two days ago, on Fulda Ridge, I was startled by a sharp peeping much like that of a Northern Goshawk, in a stand of pines. I could see no nest, and the bird moved away, down the slope, and I never saw it. It much reminded me of the peeping I heard last summer from Goshawks at a nest site in the North Fork American River canyon.

The THP does not mention the existence of Foothill Yellow-legged Frogs in the project area. I have seen these frogs in the NFNFAR, and in many other streams, large and small, and based upon my experience, would expect these frogs to live in Blue Canyon, Texas Canyon, and Fulda Canyon, and their tributaries, wherever accumulations of cobbly sediment are found, and also, in some areas of bare rock (adult frogs will inhabit bare rock areas). A better survey of both raptors and amphibians seems called for.

Finally, with respect to the proposed new roads, I am quite concerned. This seems an extremely heavy-handed component of what is in any case, in my terms, a rather drastic timber harvest. I have examined the course of the proposed road across Texas Canyon, with its associated steep slopes, where a very large culvert will be needed. This haul road is needed only because, it seems, the existing road over to Fulda Ridge, to the east, has been gated closed. I suggest that all harvest east of the main Lost Camp Road be yarded by helicopter; in fact, the entire project should be yarded by helicopter.

If I had more time I could do a better job of relating my comments to specific pages and sections of the THP. Please do extend the public comment period.

Thank you very much for your consideration of these issues.

Sincerely,
*******

Lost Camp THP reconnaissance

I joined Steve Hunter of Colfax for a reconnaissance of the Lost Camp THP area yesterday. We left at 8:00 a.m. and drove up to the Blue Canyon exit on I-80, proceeding south and across the railroad tracks to the road fork leading east to the ridge (let us call it Fulda Ridge), in Section 24, between Fulda Creek and Texas Canyon (Texas Canyon is not so named on the modern USGS 7.5 minute Westville quadrangle, but is named on the 1866 General Land Office map of that area). We found this road gated closed with a sign reading "no trespassing" and "if you enter you will be shot."

Another road forked left near the gate and we tried it. It almost immediately leveled out and I realized it had been cut into the line of an old ditch, which could only be the historic Bradley & Gardner Ditch, or Placer County Canal, which drew from the East Fork of the North Fork of the North Fork, and went to the hydraulic mines of Dutch Flat and Gold Run, arriving in 1859. It was following almost exactly the 4680' contour where we met it. In a while we reached a locked gate, and, knowing the ditch must swing around Fulda Ridge, followed the road in. We passed a group of small cabins of recent construction, and then suddenly the road ended and we could follow the ditch itself. It is about five feet deep, and six or eight feet across at the top, and was said to have a capacity of 5000 miners inches, in the olden days.

A little less than a mile along the sinuous course of the ditch brought us to Fulda Ridge. Immediately below us to the south, a fine stand of coniferous timber had shaded out the brush, and made for easy going. We noted flagging where we left the ditch, marking it as a "truck road," and knew we were just entering the Lost Camp THP, on the north line of Section 24.

This forest had been logged at least twice, decades ago, we believed, but by a "selective" method, in which only the largest trees had been cut, and the forest canopy had remained largely intact, and no brush and relatively few small trees had become established, in the shade. So, it was a pretty patch of forest, and easy to walk through, and as we descended, the crest of the ridge flattened out to a dead level. Unfortunately this forest will be pretty well all harvested, according to the THP.

Steve has explored this area almost incredibly thoroughly over the past fifty years. He and his friends have pulled off some amazing adventures. For instance, Fulda Creek, below us to the east, has a steep gradient which only gets steeper as it approaches the North Fork of the North Fork, to the south. There is a series of high waterfalls along the creek, and essentially no way to hike up or down this section. Steve and his friends brought ropes and rappelled down the cliffs beside each waterfall in turn, all the way to the river, and then came back up the China Trail.

But this was only one of Steve's forays into lower Fulda Creek. On other occasions he had found an unusual old mining railroad. Since this is within the THP we wished to document it. I myself also hoped to discover some shred of the old trail from Lost Camp to Monumental Camp, constructed in 1862. However, in this I failed. The logging of decades ago had involved bulldozers, and the usual disruption of the land surface had effaced any sign of the old trail.

Reaching the southern end of the flat top of Fulda Ridge, where it drops away in ragged cliffs of the Shoo Fly Complex metasediments, into the main North Fork of the North Fork canyon, we veered east and began working down towards Fulda Creek. Almost immediately we struck a broad old trail or wagon road, which led back to the north and east. Following it, for a time I hoped it was my lost trail from Lost Camp, but soon it was obliterated by bulldozer skid trails from, what, 35 years ago. So we just angled on down the ever-steepening canyon wall, through a thinning mixed coniferouse forest increasingly dominated by Canyon Live Oaks, until another segment of broad trail or wagon road was reached, this, very nearly on a level.

Following it south, we passed sections of dry-laid stone walls, and finally reached a small mining area with abundant chunks of angular quartz scattered around. There the road-trail seemed to end. A sort of gully choked with angular talus was above the terminus, but no tunnel was visible. We made a short scramble beyond to some cliffy outcrops with fine views out into the main canyon, and we could see all the tributaries which make the Gorge of Gorges: Fulda, Sailor Ravine, the North Fork of the North Fork, the East Fork of the North Fork of the North Fork, Burnett Canyon and Wilmont Ravine, and Texas Canyon. Across the main canyon, Sawtooth Ridge rose steeply to Helester Point. There, a drastically ugly SPI clearcut made a square hole in the forest cover.

Fair-weather cumulus clouds graced the pure blue sky. It was cool, perfect for hiking.

Retreating north along the road-trail, I saw a faint old human trail leading down, and we followed it a short distance to a smaller trail, also about level, perhaps one hundred feet lower. This we followed south until it appeared to end at some cliffs. A bit of iron strapping stuck out of the trail at one point, of the sort one sometimes sees in old mine tunnels, a sort of poor man's railroad track, used for moving ore carts along the tunnel. Also, we saw an ancient cable stretching straight down the hill. Steve's recollection was that this cable led down to his mining railroad. However, our level old trail must be explored first, so we turned and followed it north.

It too had its dry-laid stone walls, and we walked it for a long distance, well, a quarter-mile perhaps, and saw Douglas Fir trees of increasing size, one, perhaps six feet in diameter. Strangely, the THP specifically states that there is no old-growth forest within the plan area. These large trees are clearly old-growth. The only logging which had ever occurred at this depth within Fulda Canyon (we were near the 4200' contour), was minor harvest of medium-sized trees, for mining purposes, around 100 years ago.

Suddenly, though, the old trail was crossed by what seemed to be a skid trail, which had been undoubtedly made by a bulldozer, and yet which looked very old. No stumps in the area signalled that it had been made for logging. Its rough steep bench cut had been much softened by the passage of decades. We tentatively ascribed an age of fifty years to it. The level old trail did not seem to continue, so we followed the steep bulldozer trail down a short distance. There we found large stockpiles of quartz ore, and a variety of mining equipment, including an ore cart, a sort of crucible, and several odd tubes of galvanized metal, something like water heater tanks, but meant to rotate on a longitudinal axis, some still having their axles. We could not imagine what they were for, but, clearly, it had to do with gold mining. They were of several different diameters.

We were now close to the creek, on a small flat, everywhere sloping, but not too far from level, and with a find stand of large Douglas Fir. Steve's sense was that we were far to the north of the mining railroad, which broke out onto the sunny cliffs we had visited earlier. So, with considerable difficulty, we contoured along to the south, while the creek fell away below us, and reached increasingly rocky areas with some rather large outcrops, almost house-sized. At one point Steve climbed up some shattered rock above me, and as I followed, I came within inches of a rattlesnake, which he had passed already. It was a calm snake, half-hidden in a hole, and did not rattle. I stepped away a few feet and climbed up after Steve.

After a time we found a great viewpoint and stopped for lunch. We reviewed the situation. It was impossible that the mining railroad had disappeared. It was virtually impossible that it could be below us. I suggested that perhaps his mining railroad was just the same as our lower level trail; but Steve recalled, vividly, railroad tracks crossing a cliff, and hanging into space. We had followed the entire length of the lower level trail, and had checked the slopes well for hundreds of feet below its line. So, what then?

As we continued, Steve saw a familiar-looking outcrop above us, and as we made for it, he saw a rail. A steep climb brought us to a gully where, perhaps a hundred years past, a trestle had supported narrow-gauge track. The trestle was gone, the track hung in the air, supported by cliffy outcrops at one side. So, we climbed over to the cliffy area, and, voila! There were the railroad tracks, winding sharply around a blasted-out bench on the cliff, and hanging into space at either end of this curved reach. Old cedar ties were still in place, with small railroad spikes, and round nails, and square nails too. It all suggested a turn-of-the-century date, around 1900. We had, again, tremendous views, very similar to those we'd enjoyed earlier.

It was hard to see how far the original line of trestle and track might have continued, to the west, but, as we climbed up above the tracks, the question was likely answered, for we caught sight of a steep-walled, steeply-plunging gully, which I recognized as a quartz vein complex which had been "stoped out" along the surface, to a depth of nearly if not more than twenty feet, measured perpendicular to the overall steep rocky slopes. This may well have been because the material closer to the surface was more weathered, and the gold easier to extract by ordinary, gravity-based methods, i.e., crushing followed by of a sluice box. Sometimes at greater depths, the gold is far harder to separate from other minerals.

We followed the stoped-out vein complex on up the cliff. I have seen very similar workings in the Stanislaus river canyon. At the top of the cliff, the stoped area continued down the far side, and we realized that we had returned to the southern end of our first, highest, level road-trail. Thus Steve's mining railroad was really part of the lower old level trail; and we had just been mistaken, when we thought it had ended at some rocks, earlier.

Thus, the two parallel, almost-level trails are ore cart runs leading from the stoped-out vein complex, north to the ore stockpiles in the little flat with the old mining equipment and the old bulldozed steep road.

Steve says there are other mining artifacts down along the creek itself. I want to emphasize that, not only are these artifacts on private property, but in any case, all such things should be left alone. Carry nothing home, no old railroad spikes, no arrowheads, nothing. Photograph them if you like. Be careful about even mentioning such sites to anyone. It is a shocking fact that many archeological sites have already been looted. This has to stop.

We climbed back to the level summit of Fulda Ridge and retraced our steps back to the ditch and to Steve's jeep.

Later in the day we took a look at various parts of the Lost Camp area, including the proposed new road, to cross Texas Canyon, which is detailed in the THP, and which will require rather extreme cuts on steep slopes and a huge culvert, and, all in all, I would like to see this and other new roads *not* constructed, for this timber harvest, instead, if any harvest occurs, let there be much more in the way of helicopter yarding, much less tractor yarding, and no new roads.

Later we drove down the Lost Camp Divide out of the THP area and into some horrible clearcuts on what I presume is SPI lands.

Such was a very interesting day.

Lost Camp THP Comments

Tim Lasko took the time to call Rich Jenkins and Auburn CDF and wrote the following:

*******
Russell,
I placed a call yesterday to Rich Jenkins and Gary - possibly Britner? and
received return calls from both today. They both told me to write a letter
to William Schultz CDF (6105 Airport Road, Redding, CA 96002.) In the
interest of time, Rich also recommended faxing a copy to 530.224.4841. The
faxed copy would be time / date stamped and placed directly in the file. I
was assured that any letters would receive an official response.

My conversation was lengthy and friendly with Rich. He admitted that he has
never been to the site and informed me that a relatively new CDF
archeologist covers the Central Sierra. Dr. Garrett Fenenga works out of
the Sacramento office, but lives in Placerville. Rich suggested that I
request Dr. Fenenga to review the site. Rich stated that by making that
request, in a formal letter, it would almost guarantee the CDF take the time
to send an archeologist to the site. He also stated that it would be
helpful to submit a map with the areas of concern shown, to ensure that they
are included in the review.

I will write a letter and send it today. What are you thoughts on
submitting a map? I think we should send more letters to William Schultz
CDF (6105 Airport Road, Redding, CA 96002.)

Thanks
Tim Lasko
*******

Tim is right, we need more letters ot Schultz, and we need an extension of the public comment period! And, as Tim found, we should and will request a CDF archeological review. And we should and shall make a map.

Thanks Tim!

Lost Camp THP obtained

I drove to Auburn and picked up the Timber Harvest Plan for Lost Camp, from CDF.

It is far worse than I had imagined. 590 of the 600 acres owned by Andrew and Sharon Siller will be logged. This includes the lands around the trailhead and first part of the China Trail. Several new roads are to be constructed, including roads which violate ordinary forest practices, since they would be within riparian zones *and* on steep slopes.

The steepest slopes will be helicopter-logged. The rest, tractor-logged. It looks pretty bad.

I am going to Lost Camp tomorrow with Steve Hunter, who has hiked that area for 50 years, to investigate the situation more closely. I hope we find about a million historic archeological sites, 'cause that's what it's going to take.

Tonight I spoke to the CanyonKeepers group in Auburn. They were very nice and I rambled on and on about geology and glaciers.

Letter to CDF re Lost Camp

Hi Rich, thanks for your reply, in which you wrote,

Thanks for the informative e-mail. Please follow up with a printed version sent to Mr. Bill Schultz for a formal response.

I am mailing a printed version today.

Prior to the formal response I want to say a few words about the protection of historic sites which include trails. Current rules, regulations, and laws do not provide protection for all such resources. Only "significant" historic sites, as defined by the Forest Practice Rules, require protection. Text from the 2003 is as follows:

Significant archaeological or historical site means a specific location which may contain artifacts. or objects and where evidence clearly demonstrates a high probability that the site meets one or more of the following criteria:

(a) Contains information needed to answer important scientific research questions.
(b) Has a special and particular quality such as the oldest of its type or best available example of its type.
(c) Is directly associated with a scientifically recognized important prehistoric event or person.
(d) Involves important research questions that historical research has shown can be answered only with archaeological methods (excavation).
(e) Has significant cultural or religious importance to Native Americans as defined in 14CCR895.1.

Criteria c is most frequently used when evaluating the significance of trails. The Emigrant Trails (Donner, Lassen, Nobles, etc) fit this criteria due to their importance in providing routes to the California Gold Rush and the settling of the west. Other local trails have a more difficult time qualifying under this or other criteria. If you feel that your trails qualify under one or more of these criteria by all means let us know in writing......


So, this is an excerpt from CDF's Forest Practice Rules. But, what of Federal laws, such as the National Historic Preservation Act; or CEQA? I suppose it is likely enough that the Forest Practice Rules have been carefully worded so as to comply with existing state and federal statutes.

And, in what way is the utter destruction of hiking trails consistent with CDF's avowed mission to sustain recreational resources?

Now, I call these trails "historic trails." Suppose instead we simply call them "trails," and do not appeal at all to their historic nature. Where in the Forest Practice Rules does it condone the destruction of trails?

Thank you very much for your consideration of these matters, Rich.

Sincerely,


Russell Towle

THP 2-03-040-PLA

August 5, 2003

Rich Jenkins
CDF
6105 Airport Road
Redding, CA 96002

Dear Mr. Jenkins,

I am writing with regard to Timber Harvest Plan 2-03-040-PLA, near Blue Canyon in Placer County. I am hoping that the public comment period for this THP is still open; if it is open, my initial comments are as follows. I understand that CDF does not normally admit emailed comments, and that I should mail a printed version of these comments to William Schultz, CDF, 6105 Airport Road, Redding, CA 96002.

This area is of special concern to me, as it contains the site of the historic gold mining town, Lost Camp, from which various historic trails radiated to other mining camps. I have not yet seen the THP itself, and of course, the accompanying archeological survey data is not available to me. The plan involves 590 acres across sections 22, 23, and 24, of T16N, R11E.

I am an amateur historian and have published books on the history of nearby Dutch Flat, including the diary of gold miner/photographer Isaac Tibbetts Coffin, who lived near Lost Camp, at Texas Hill and Burnett Canyon, from 1858 to 1864. His diary records visits to Lost Camp and use of the historic trails in the area.

It seems to me that special care should be taken when harvesting timber in this area. Lost Camp is more than a set of old mining ditches, reservoirs, and cabin sites; it is a town site, and has not ever been adequately surveyed from an archeological standpoint. The area of the town has been subjected to several timber harvests since the 1850s. I am concerned, then, that any further timber harvests, especially those where tractor logging is involved, but also those where helicopters are used to transport sawlogs, may blur the archeological record in critical areas. Road construction may also damage the archeological resource.

I am also concerned about the effects of further timber harvests upon the historic trails in this area. One trail in particular, sometimes called the China Trail, leads from Lost Camp down to the North Fork of the North Fork of the American River (NFNFAR) to the south. This trail once continued south, across the river, climbing Sawtooth Ridge, and giving access not only to the Sawtooth Ridge Trail, but to the Burnett Canyon Trail and Texas Hill. Now, this more southern, Sawtooth Ridge part of the China Trail has been obliterated by logging.

The more northern, Lost Camp reach of the China Trail is depicted on the 1866 General Land Office map of T16N, R11E. Both the northern and southern reaches of the China Trail are depicted on the 1962 Tahoe National Forest (TNF) map of the Big Bend and Foresthill Ranger districts.

The China Trail gives access to one of the most beautiful areas in TNF. There is a remarkable gorge, with many waterfalls, upstream on the NFNFAR from the base of the trail. Over a period of several years I have tried to bring this area to the attention of both TNF and Placer County, and have urged that every effort be made to purchase the private lands in this area, especially Section 23, which contains both the site of Lost Camp, and the top of the China Trail.

The 1866 GLO map also depicts the "Trail to Monumental Camp," leading due east from Lost Camp and across the ridge separating Texas Canyon from Fulda Creek. While trying to find the line of this old trail, a few days ago, I found many trees marked with blue paint, and much flagging, and realized a timber harvest was planned. Several mining ditches and reservoirs were in the area, along with what appeared to be a cabin site, and an old orchard, and many gullies left from ground sluicing.

I immediately called CDF at Bowman, near Auburn, and spoke with a very pleasant man named Kelly (I am not sure of his full name). Kelly did not know if the THP was still open to public comment, and suggested I call Jeff Dowling. Kelly said that, although I could not myself see the archeological survey of the area, Jeff could look at his copy, and verify whether any particular site or artifact had been documented.

I talked to Jeff yesterday. To my surprise, he seemed to know me quite well. Apparently he thought that I was raising questions about archeological resources merely as a ploy to stop or impede the timber harvest. Rather than check his copy of the archeological survey performed by the Registered Professional Forester (Dave Levy of Nevada City), Jeff merely asserted that he had walked "all over" that area, and that the survey was adequate. When I suggested that Lost Camp was more than a mining ditch and reservoir or two, he declared that our conversation had reached an impasse, and treated me to quite a lecture upon property rights, and "people like me" who oppose any and all timber harvests.

Jeff did not know if the public comment period for this THP was open or not, and suggested I call you. He told me that, supposing that I identified some new archeological site not already recorded, you and he would simply have to visit Lost Camp and devise mitigation measures; the timber harvest itself would go forward.

In years past I have been assured by CDF personnel that no archeological resource whatsoever would stop a timber harvest, but only, perhaps, change its extent, slightly.

I understand this, and I know that CDF, and its employees, and all timber harvests, are governed by a variety of regulations and laws. For instance, on the CDF home page it is stated that "In addition to timber, the state's wildlands also provide valuable watershed, wildlife habitat, and recreation resources. Maintaining the sustainability of all these natural resources is the goal of the CDF Resource Management Program."

Now, I do not believe that CDF has been properly maintaining and sustaining the historic trails in this area--I mean, not just near Lost Camp, but broadly, in Placer and Nevada counties generally. For, again and again I have seen historic trails obliterated by logging. Placer County used to have a rich network of trails, interconnecting, and fairly well spanning the entire county. Now, I am not saying, in some kind of reductio ad absurdum, that each and every one of these old trails should have been preserved intact. It is only natural, over the course of time, that some of these old trails became roads, for instance.

However, when timber harvests destroy one trail after another in Placer County's "high country" (and I would count Lost Camp as part of that high country, being above the usual snow-line, in the winter), I cannot help but think that both CDF and TNF are much at fault, and are, in fact, breaking the law. For it is my understanding that historic trails are to be protected, under the various laws, not destroyed.

I know many such instances of destroyed trails: the southern part of the China Trail has already been mentioned; add to that, the Big Valley Trail, the Sugar Pine Point Trail, the Monumental Creek Trail, and others.

I spoke with Mike Wopat of the California Geological Survey, who had submitted comments with regard to this "Lost Camp" THP. Mike said that his concerns involved proposed construction of a haul road in the northeast part of Section 23, giving access to lands in the northwest part of Section 24 to the east. This new road would have to cross the stream known as Texas Canyon, and Mike was concerned about erosion and sedimentation.

I too am concerned about this proposed new road. A road already exists, which forks to the east from the road to Lost Camp, south of the railroad tracks, in Section 14 to the north of Section 23. This existing road already gives access to the lands in the northwest corner of Section 24. I would think that is much to be preferred that this existing road be used as a haul road, rather than constructing a new road. Although I am not sure of the exact course of the proposed new road, I would also fear that it might have considerable impacts upon the old mining ditches in the area.

Thank you very much for your consideration of these issues.

Sincerely,


Russell Towle

Lost Camp THP

I spoke at length this morning with CDF archeologist Jeff Dowling, about the Timber Harvest Plan for sections 22, 23, and 24, including the site of Lost Camp, an old gold mining town. This is THP code number 2-03-040-PLA, and involves 590 acres.

Jeff seemed to know all about me, from my opposition to a timber harvest here in the Dutch Flat Diggings, a few years ago. He was rather full of scorn and dismissal towards me and all my tree-hugging kind. I was a little surprised by the vehemence of his feelings. I tried to keep things on an even keel, but again and again Jeff took me to task for wanting to stop all logging.

Nevertheless, I obtained some useful information about the Lost Camp timber harvest. In brief:

1. The property is owned by Sillers Bros. lumber company. One of the principals, Andrew Siller, recently died.

2. The THP may or may not still be open to public comment. I should call the main office in Redding to find out.

3. So far as Jeff is concerned, the site has been adequately surveyed (by the Register Professional Forester and his assistant, Dave Levy and Steve Furlong), and all historic sites well protected. He says that the steeper slopes will be helicopter logged, and that impacts using this method are so light that there is no restriction upon where trees may be taken. Jeff has, in the past, walked "all over" that area.

4. Jeff says the harvest itself will likely not take place for one to one-and-one-half years.

5. Jeff said, if I want TNF to own Section 23, then, don't wait for TNF to find the money, find it myself, contact Siller Bros., and hope for the best.

6. If I have any concerns about protection of historic and archeological sites in this THP, I should write to Rich Jenkins, CDF, 6105 Airport Road, Redding CA 96002. If I do write, Jeff will receive a copy of my letter, and, (sigh) he and Rich will then have to go out and re-survey the area themselves.

Such is what I learned about the Lost Camp THP. I have not yet seen the THP myself. It may be, as Jeff characterized it, a rather benign timber harvest, as such things go.

Lost Camp Update

I have found that the timber harvest planned near the Lost Camp townsite is part of a 590-acre harvest plan spanning sections 22, 23, and 24, on land seemingly owned by Andrew and Sharon Siller, in some way related to the Siller Brothers Lumber Co.

The period for pubic comment on this plan ended June 30, 2003.

In speaking with a CDF employee, I found that, in theory, they are supposed to protect old trails from the effects of timber harvests.

I also found that an archeological database at Sac State is used to see whether prehistoric or historic sites (including trails) will be impacted by any harvest plan. I have little doubt but that this database is seriously flawed, since, years and years ago, the person in charge of the database, whom I will not name, flatly refused to record the existence of the ancient Indian hunting blinds I discovered on top of Snow Mountain. She suggested they might be house sites! At 8000' elevation!

There may be some slight chance of influencing this harvest plan, for, if an undocumented archeological site is discovered within the harvest area, operations must stop while a CDF archeologist devises mitigation measures.

Sites I observed today included at least one building site, one orchard, three or more mining ditches, two mining reservoirs, and, largely erased by prior logging, one trail.

Lost Camp: Good News, Bad News

This morning, early, I made a dash up to Blue Canyon and drove through Lost Camp to the top of the China Trail. There is no obstruction on the road, contrary to the report I received yesterday. So, that's the good news.

The bad news is that many trees are marked for a timber harvest in the vicinity of the townsite, and that some private parcels in the area are "for sale," and that there is no immediate prospect for Tahoe National Forest or the Placer Legacy to step into the breach and try to acquire these private lands, near the townsite and trailhead.

For those who do not know of Lost Camp and the China Trail, well, Lost Camp was a hydraulic mining town established in 1858. It is roughly south of Blue Canyon, and is on top of the ridge dividing Blue Canyon, the stream, from the North Fork of the North Fork. Lost Camp is in Section 23, T16N, R11E. Directions to reach Lost Camp and the China Trail are as follows.

From the Blue Canyon exit on eastbound I-80, set your odometer to zero, and turn sharply right onto a paved road leading back to the west. This is Blue Canyon Road.

In ~.4 miles, pass paved Airport Road on the right, leading to the Blue Canyon airport. Blue Canyon Road descends steadily, crosses the creek, and at ~2.0 miles, a paved road forks left, towards and past some houses. The pavement ends shortly and a dirt road continues. In another ~.5 miles a road forks left; stay to the right. The railroad is reached at approximately 2.9 miles. The road crosses the tracks near where the old Bradley & Gardner Ditch, or Placer County Canal, itself crossed the tracks, on its way to Dutch Flat and Gold Run. This major mining ditch pre-dates the railroad.

Immediately after crossing the tracks, a road forks left, which has been recently widened. Stay right. At ~3.0 miles a log deck is passed and at ~3.1 miles another road forks left--stay right--, while on the right is a small cabin-like structure with "no trespassing" signs. At ~3.5 miles a wrecked car is on the left. Roads fork to left and right, and a group of larger, older Ponderosa Pines is on the right, with a hunters' deer-dressing pipe embedded between two pines. The road to the right leads past the west part of the townsite to the largest hydraulic pit. That to the left leads to the east part of the townsite, where an old orchard still exists.

The main road goes straight. At ~3.6 miles a gulch is crossed and hydraulic mining banks are visible nearby. At ~3.8 miles the main Lost Camp Divide Road breaks away to the right, while the road to the trailhead goes straight. At ~3.9 miles, a small road forks steeply down to the left to the trailhead, which is just out of view. There is a parking area about fifty yards or so back to the north. There are no signs.

This trail descends to the North Fork of the North Fork American, and not too long ago, crossed the river and climbed up Sawtooth Ridge to the south. However, on the Sawtooth Ridge side it has been obliterated by logging. I published the diary of a man named Isaac Tibbetts Coffin who lived over near Texas Hill and Burnett Canyon from 1858 until 1864, and he often used this trail to walk to Dutch Flat, by way of Lost Camp, and also, mule trains used to bring provisions to Texas Hill and Monumental Camp, from Dutch Flat, on this trail.

Coffin always refers to it as the "trail to Lost Camp." I do not know when or why it became known as the China Trail, or the China Bar Trail. Coffin does mention that, in 1864, Chinese miners from Dutch Flat were scouting the entire area, and looking to buy mining claims.

The China Trail begins in the private lands in Section 23 but quickly passes into Tahoe National Forest lands, in Section 24 to the east.

This trail shows on the 1866 General Land Office map, as does the road to Lost Camp. As it descends to the river it roughly parallels a ravine marked "Texas Ca–on" on my 1866 map. This map also shows a trail leading east from Lost Camp, marked as "Trail to Monumental Camp," and another trail leading west, from somewhat south of Lost Camp, into Blue Canyon.

After driving to the trailhead, I turned back, drove to the townsite, parked near the wrecked car and old pines, and tried to find the "Trail to Monumental Camp."

Monumental Camp would seem to have been near the confluence of Monumental Creek and the East Fork of the North Fork of the North Fork. Coffin mentions several residents of Monumental Camp, who would come and visit him at Texas Hill or at his other cabin down in Burnett Canyon.

At any rate, scouting east on the small road, I passed the old orchard and reached the remnants of a cabin. Some mining occurred at Lost Camp during the Depression, but I have been unable to discover anything about this era. The structure I saw probably dates from that time. In the vicinity are a number of old mining ditches, mining reservoirs, and deep gullies left by minor hydraulic mining, of the sort they called "ground sluicing." The area has been logged again and again and no old trees remain which might have held blazes.

Unfortunately, the larger 3rd-growth trees which are there now are all marked with blue spray paint, and all kinds of flagging is scattered through the forest.

I struck the line of one of the many old mining ditches and followed it through a ravine, then saw an old human trail leading down, followed it, struck another ditch, in this case, with flagging marking it as a skid trail, and finally broke out onto an ugly bulldozed skid trail thing, with a bulldozed flat just above me. This I took to be a building site on one of the parcels now for sale. The ditch had been erased, and I was far from my car.

The route I had followed seemed a plausible fit for the Trail to Monumental Camp, but to determine the issue I would have to cross to the ridge between Texas Canyon and Fulda Creek, a ways east, and pick up the trail over there, and follow it back to Lost Camp, if possible.

The China Trail is quite special. A descent of around 1300 feet brings you to the river. Several old camping terraces are in the area. I almost always see tremendous numbers of ladybugs there, in fact, I call it the Ladybug Capital of the Universe. The river is lovely. However, the most wonderful, the most incredible thing, is the gorge which is hidden from view just a little ways upstream.

This is a Gorge of Many Gorges, riddled with waterfalls, a Confluence of Canyons, I don't quite know what to call it, but in a very short distance many streams are joined: Texas Canyon, Fulda Creek, Sailor Ravine and the North Fork of the North Fork itself, which is a hanging valley with respect to the main gorge, said main gorge aligning more closely with the East Fork of the North Fork of the North Fork. And add to all these streams Burnett Canyon and Wilmont Ravine.

The main gorge is awesome, with cliffs of the Shoo Fly Complex metasediments soaring above, in many blocky overhangs, so that, sitting on some outcrop or boulder down on the river, and looking up, I often get dizzy and disoriented. It is fairly difficult to ascend the river into the gorge. Some of the waterfalls, some of the best and highest waterfalls, are just off the main gorge, in the side canyons, and they too are difficult to reach.

It is really one of the most beautiful places in Tahoe National Forest.

We must find a way for Tahoe National Forest to purchase some of these private inholdings. However, TNF does not seem to appreciate the importance of this area, and the China Trail. I cannot help but think that, for the TNF staff in Nevada City, this area is far out of sight, and therefore far out of mind.

Re: Public Access: Lost?

Hi Bill, you wrote,

The historic trails can and should be protected from project effects under
NHPA. Do you have any particlar concerns within the Blue Canyon Project
area?

Yes, as mentioned in my recent letter, to District Ranger Vivian Kee, of about May 15. I mentioned the China Trail, the Bradley & Gardner Ditch, etc.

As to historic trails not in project areas, but that are being impacted by
various agents, we do have a responsiblity to address those situations. I
would like to get map locations of the trails you are concerned with and
work w/David Michaels to try and address the problems you are bringing to
our attention. From a heritage resources persprective it would be
important for me to get the historic trails on our hertitage resources
atlas as a first step in trying to protect them. David might be able to
get out in the field with you.

Most of these trails are depicted on your own TNF maps! This partly why my friends and I are so amazed and horrified by the *complete obliteration* of one trail after another! And, so far as timber harvests on private lands, you guys at TNF review and sign off on every such harvest plan within the broader outlines of TNF, right?

I would be more than happy, I would be ecstatic, to help identify these absolutely precious, historic trails. My friends and I sometimes GPS these trails. I can draw many of them in on maps. Heck, many are already on the TNF special 7.5 minute topographic maps. These once formed a large interconnected network of trails. Don't forget, among all these many historic trails is the one which goes through the Rawhide Mine up to Sawtooth Ridge. Suppose this one trail was still open to the public, as it should be. One could walk from Iron Point to Big Valley Bluff, Loch Leven Lakes, Devils Peak, and on to Cascade Lake and Soda Springs--that is, if the intervening trails had not been obliterated.

Currently we are working on trail development in Burlington Ridge area. We
are developing RR grades and ditches as trails. What has happened is that
members of the public have pioneered bike and motorbike trails, some of
which have impacted the grades and ditches, or are poorly engineered, and
we are trying to get the situation under control. Also we are planning
alterations to Loch Leven Trail. If you have concerns in these areas let
me know. I realize this is a different issue than the one you raise about
historic trails.

I absolutely hate the new Loch Leven Trail! What was wrong with the old one? The new one is in extremely bad repair, and is even dangerous to walk on in places; I was on it Monday, to my regret. I refer to the section between old Hwy. 40 and the railroad.

Thanks so much for taking the time to consider these issues, Bill, I greatly appreciate it.

Sincerely,


Russell Towle

Public Access: Lost?

For several years now I have been urging Tahoe National Forest to try to acquire the private lands at the head of the trail from Lost Camp down to the North Fork of the North Fork American. This trail, in Section 23, T16N, R11E, quickly passes onto TNF lands as it proceeds south to the river. It is sometimes called the China Trail, or the China Bar Trail. It used to continue up the other side of the North Fork of the North Fork to Sawtooth Ridge, with one branch bearing east to Burnett Canyon, the other south to Helester Point, I believe, but over the past thirty years that area has been heavily logged, and that part of the old trail destroyed.

It is still intact on the Lost Camp side of the river.

This trail is depicted on the 1962 TNF map of the Foresthill and Big Bend ranger districts. It is also one of the sixty-odd trails declared to be public trails in the famous 1953 Placer County Board of Supervisors' ordinance. The Lost Camp part of the trail is also shown on the USGS 7.5 minute Westville quadrangle.

I am not aware that Forest Supervisor Steven Eubanks has ever responded to my letters regarding this trail.

Today I learned from someone who hiked the China Trail last year, and tried to reach the trail today, that the road down to Lost Camp and the trailhead is now gated closed.

This, if true, is intolerable.

I wonder whether, when CDF approves timber harvests, or TNF plans and approves timber harvests, which absolutely ruin and obliterate historic trails,--I wonder in what way such actions can be considered consistent with NEPA or CEQA.