Forest management integral to water issues
By David Benda, Record Searchlight
Two-thirds through Thursday’s talk on forests and water yields at the Sierra-Cascade Logging Conference, moderator Jim Ostrowski asked the audience about the governor’s mandate for a 25 percent statewide water use reduction.
“Maybe we need to tell the governor we got a better a deal,” Ostrowski said.
He was referring to the PowerPoint just given by Rob York, a UC Berkeley adjunct professor who for years has been studying the role of sustainable timber harvesting as way to reduce fire risk, restore the forest and increase water available for agriculture and residential users.
Reducing the forest canopy cover by 30 percent can mean an extra 6 inches of water, York said.