Mendocino Humboldt Redwood Company, LLC
Monitoring

Forest and Road Restoration

MRC and HRC on restoration projects to improve the quality of streams, roads, and the forest. Road restoration projects focus on improving water quality while forest restoration projects focus on restoring conifer-dominated forests on the landscape.

Road Restoration

Watershed analysis for both companies prioritizes road restoration projects including road improvement, road decommissioning, and culvert upgrades or removal. We measure water quality improvements by estimating controlled sediment or the amount of soil that is prevented from entering streams.

Table 1. Road restoration summary on MRC forestlands

Year Controlled sediment (yd3) Total contributions*
1998 7,284 $461,947
1999 52,819 $628,156
2000 127,555 $1,075,629
2001 38,126 $938,484
2002 88,286 $1,449,999
2003 203,463 $1,762,298
2004 30,388 $1,418,903
2005 66,284 $1,723,100
2006 58,066 $1,675,842
2007 68,726 $1,946,168
2008 34,006 $1,766,266
2009 7,893 $294,874
TOTAL 782,896 $15,026,863

*This is the total contribution from both MRC and funding partners.

Table 2. Road restoration summary on HRC forestlands (HRC started operations in August 2008; the road restoration summary for that year includes only the work done by HRC from August through December).

Year Controlled sediment (yd3) Total contributions*
2008 95,193 $2,027,174
2009 59,537 $1,379,376
Total 154,730 $3,406,550

*This is the total contribution from both HRC and funding partners

Forest Restoration

Forest restoration includes tree planting and encouraging the growth of redwood and Douglas-fir trees.

Table 3. Number of conifer seedlings planted on MRC forestlands.

Planting season Acres planted Douglas-fir Redwood Total seedlings
1998-1999 2,862 264,865 322,180 587,045
1999-2000 3,448 289,003 357,861 664,864
2000-2001 3,723 233,618 443,030 676,648
2001-2002 3,810 221,238 483,179 704,417
2002-2003 3,185 253,350 367,712 651,662
2003-2004 2,751 187,508 337,858 525,366
2004-2005 3,180 252,899 354,680 607,579
2005-2006 3,637 278,573 501,673 780,246
2006-2007 3,834 160,090 505,425 665,515
2007-2008 3,541 64,450 514,290 578,740
2008-2009 5,454 53,620 624,178 677,798
2009-2010 1,015 0 229,500 229,500
TOTAL 40,440 2,259,214 5,041,566 7,349,380

Table 4. Number of conifer seedlings planted on HRC forestlands.

Planting season Acres planted Douglas-fir Redwood Total seedlings
2008-2009 2,002 43,200 222,925 266,125
2009-2010 523 24,723 34,160 58,883
Total 2525 67,923 264,085 332,008

MRC and HRC also use herbicides applied manually on a plant by plant basis to reduce the amount of tanoak and other competing species, and encourage the growth of redwood and Douglas-fir.

Table 5. Herbicide use on MRC forestlands

Year Acres restored Herbicide (lbs)*
1999 3,368 5,269
2000 5,203 3,557
2001 6,779 4,145
2002 6,979 3,502
2003 6,621 3,849
2004 6,106 3,216
2005 6,512 4,700
2006 5,615 4,259
2007 4,811 2,999
2008 6,352 4,412
2009 1,721 2,577
TOTAL 60,067 42,485

*Pounds of active ingredient

Table 6. Herbicide use on HRC forestlands - in 2008, includes applications made by the previous landowner.

Year Acres restored Herbicide (lbs)* Herbicide (lbs) Per Acre*
2008 5,292 10,609 2.0
2009 1,392 1,654 1.2
Total 6,684 12,263 N/A

*Pounds of active ingredient