Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) Annual Reports
MRC is in the process of developing a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP). Additional information about this process and current timeline can be found in the Key Policies section of this website under Habitat Conservation Planning.
Humboldt Redwood Company
HRC inherited a functioning Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) that went into effect in 1999. The HCP contains multiple measures for protecting and conserving wildlife and their habitat on the landscape. The protections consist of operating restrictions organized into Operating Conservation Plans for each “covered” species. These restrictions include a comprehensive road and hillslope conservation plan designed to reduce sediment inputs into streams to protect fish habitat. In addition to the operating restrictions, the HCP requires monitoring of forest and stream conditions to ensure that the conservation measures being implemented are accomplishing the desired results. The results of this monitoring have been used to update the HCP through the process of “Adaptive Management.” The HCP rules under which we are currently operating are therefore a little different from the original 1999 HCP.
For a more detailed but still “user-friendly” description of the HCP Operating Conservation Plans, please see Chapter 2 of Humboldt Redwood Company’s Management Plan.
The HCP requires annual reporting of surveys, and monitoring specified in the Operating Conservation Plans, and periodic reporting on other monitoring work agreed upon between the company and the HCP Wildlife Agencies (US Fish & Wildlife Service, California Department of Fish and Game, and NOAA Fisheries). These reports include aquatic and hillslope monitoring, road stormproofing and road work planning, and terrestrial animal and plant surveys and monitoring. Humboldt Redwood Company’s most recent HCP reports are available below.
For those who are interested in the full HCP document, please see HRC’s Habitat Conservation Plan below. This document has been updated with all changes except for the watershed-specific harvesting prescriptions.
Humboldt Redwood Company Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) [1 PDF file]
Current HCP Annual Reports
Appendices to Plants Annual Report 2008