In the chilling shade of a redwood forest, landowner Bruce Berry and his forestry consultant revved a pair of off-road quads up an old logging road cut along a steep canyon near the Sonoma Coast – the latest flashpoint in a longstanding debate over whether California’s coastal forests should be logged at all.
They drove up into the sunny warmth of a ridgetop meadow overlooking the Russian River. A thick bank of fog was retreating fast, revealing ocean waves crashing on Goat Rock and the sun-baked town of Jenner.
Sensitive to false rumors he plans to clear cut the property, Berry was quick to explain the meadow has always been there, to his knowledge. He insisted that his longtime logging family has always used careful selective harvesting methods so their forests will always look healthy…