The Little Jones Creek Pilot Project was approved by the U.S. Forest Service in 2017. It was the first effort by the Smith River Collaborative, consisting of the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation, Elk Valley Rancheria, Del Norte County and Fire Safe Council, EPIC, local conservation groups and others, to launch a “Collaborative” initiative to advance habitat restoration, fuels treatment, and other projects in partnership with the Smith River National Recreation Area of the Six Rivers National Forest. Restoration focused on thinning 350 acres of dense, flammable plantations — forest areas previously clearcut — and manually creating 400 acres of shaded fuel breaks along strategic roads and ridge lines by clearing brush and young vegetation. There was agreement among the Collaborative on the purpose of the project to improve conditions for future fires, that any commercial volume would be a byproduct of restoration, and, most importantly, that efforts would help restore habitat for species that depend on mature forests.
Seven years later, after the Smith River Complex burned through the area last year, the result of the Little Jones Project is in direct opposition to its original intent, as stated by the Six Rivers letter: “The Little Jones Pilot Project is the outcome of exciting community developed approach to treating hazardous fuels and restoring terrestrial and aquatic habitats. This planning process was based on creating trust and building lasting relationships between the community members, agencies, and organizations to accelerate protection and restoration of landscapes within Del Norte County.”
The timber sale contract for the Little Jones Project was modified after the fire without input from the Collaborative. The new terms allowed for the cutting of smaller fire burned trees while stipulating that snags (dead trees) over 20 inches in diameter should remain standing. However, an exception permitted the removal of larger trees deemed a “safety threat” to loggers. Consequently, hundreds of largest snags, some up to 36 inches in diameter, were classified as an “operational threat”. While the logging of larger trees led to increased profit for timber corporations, it left behind severe, irreversible damage to the ecosystem and a clearcut mess.
The ridges and rivers surrounding the Wild and Scenic Little Jones Creek, a tributary of the Smith River, shelter one of just two remaining populations of the Humboldt martens in California. With an estimated population of fewer than 400 individuals, Humboldt martens were classified as endangered under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA) and listed as a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 2020. In May 2024, nearly the entirety of the Smith River Recreation Area was designated as critical habitat. There have been multiple detections of these rare, fierce and furry weasels throughout the Little Jones Project area, yet bulldozers and chainsaws have now permanently altered this vital habitat.
Trees continue to fall in the Little Jones Creek Project area, as logging operations advance. The Forest Service maintains that this clearcutting is entirely legal and has yet to acknowledge any harm, despite the cycle of flammable plantation forestry and severely degraded forest conditions it perpetuates. Regardless of the best intentions of the Collaborative, the damage done highlights the erosion of trust by the agency and a clear reason for its difficulty in fostering enduring relationships.
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