Faulkner Park ancient Redwoods near Boonville threatened by PG&E

Friends of Faulkner Park have been greatly dismayed to see large black X’s appearing on some 50 old-growth Redwoods in the 40-acre county park just two miles outside Boonville on Mountain View Road.

These trees, marked about six weeks ago by PG&E crews, are destined to be cut down in an effort to mitigate the danger they present to the utility’s power lines to reduce the risk of a potential fire hazard.

“To protect PG&E from liability, they propose to cut the heart out of this ancient grove, destroying its integrity and leaving a sterile, fireproof swath along the road, the creek and the power lines,” says Steve Wood, a local architect who has lived on property adjacent to the park for 45 years.

The park contains some of the most spectacular remaining old-growth Redwoods in the county — hundreds of ancient trees amid a lush swamp with wild azaleas, ferns and huckleberries and the headwaters of Bear Wallow Creek.

Intimately connected to the park, where he and his wife walk regularly for recreation and pleasure, Wood says the idea of these ancient giants being cut down is appalling and heart breaking.

“The park is a real jewel, a treasure, and my appreciation for the trees has increased markedly with the realization that they are now being threatened. There are many people, locally and throughout the county, who are deeply concerned.”

Some of the trees marked for destruction measure as much as 8 feet in diameter; typically, they are 5-7 feet and some double trees are as large as 10 feet. They are centuries old, perhaps millennials, soaring as high as 250 feet into the air.

Encouraged by PG&E’s commitment to bury thousands of miles of power lines, Friends of Faulkner Park are asking PG&E to not cut any trees but to lay down one-quarter mile of underground wire, instead.

According to a New York Times article dated Jan. 7, 2021, Patricia Poppe, PG&E’s newly-hired CEO, said the utility is committed to burying 10,000 miles of power lines (focused within Tier 2 and Tier 3 High Fire-Threat Districts) costing billions of dollars, to curb wildfire risk. She is quoted as saying, “We need you to know that we are working night and day to solve this incredible problem.”

With a commitment of this kind, it seems a very minimal request to underground just one-quarter of a mile of electrical wiring in the park instead of cutting down 50 old growth Redwoods.

Mendocino County Supervisor Ted Williams has been meeting with representatives of PG&E and from a Nov. 13 post on Facebook, says he joined with concerned community members to meet with four PG&E representatives at the park that afternoon to discuss the application of PG&E’s Enhanced Vegetation Management Plan.

“Hearing our dismay, they initiated a feasibility study of undergrounding through the park to mitigate tree removal. They committed to not cutting marked trees without first sharing plans with the county, but it’s my hope, and I believe theirs, that tree removal will not be necessary,” he says.

Janet Boonyagarn has lived on the road by the park for six years and became concerned some six weeks ago when she started seeing large PG&E work crews and trucks in the park.

“I’m concerned about the wildlife and the creek and the loss of irreplaceable community space. It’s a necessary and crucial part of our community and it’s not right for a private company like PGE to come in and take that away. We’re a very rural town and, although this is happening all over the state, I am specifically concerned about this. It’s important to keep our habitat intact.

“There has been no communication or transparency or any kind of environmental review in the process of them cutting down the trees and, in the face of climate change, they are applying a very short-sighted approach.”

According to a recent article from the Sierra Club, “PG&E owns more than 100,000 miles of transmission lines… With the planned clear-cut width of 30 feet, the path of destruction could be considerable. Such a dramatically new approach should have a comparably high profile, with extensive advance publicity and full, clear explanations…The company has provided no public estimates for just how great the environmental impact will be… no environmental impact report (EIR) has been undertaken and although PG&E has conducted internal environmental reviews, as of May 2018, the company will not release those reviews to the public.”

Information has not been forthcoming to community members from PG&E’s local representatives and inquiries have been met with obfuscation.

“They are aware of our concern and questions; however, things appear to be moving very quickly. There have been so many different answers that I have a hard time trusting what I am being told; nothing feels reassuring and, until there is a clear and consistent line of communication, I remain very skeptical about what I am being told,” she says.

In response to an email request on Monday, the 15th, Deanna Contreras, PG&E Marketing & Communications, replied that PG&E will continue current conversations with landowners, community members, Supervisor Ted Williams and representatives with the park; that this specific Enhanced Vegetation Management work is not on this year’s calendar and, therefore, no trees will be trimmed or removed this year; however, routine work, tree safety work that happens across their entire service territory year-round to stay in compliance with state mandates, will continue; that PG&E loves trees and knows that their customers love trees; that one long-term option includes potentially undergrounding a portion of the system but there are some areas in which undergrounding is not feasible and some undergrounding projects that will require the removal of trees.

She says, “We are still evaluating whether Faulkner Park is an area in which undergrounding makes sense to save the most trees while keeping our customers safe. Engineering and planning has not taken place yet and that is the stage in which the actual work is outlined…in some areas, undergrounding actually requires us to remove more trees due to easements and rights of way.”

Wood says, “The trees belong to the people of the county under the stewardship of the Board of Supervisors. The trees are robust but their habitat is clearly fragile. Removing them to reduce PG&E’s liability would be an unspeakable, short-sighted tragedy.”