Resident, Open Space District square off over redwood trees
Apple co-founder's ex-wife pays $50,000 to save trees
Woman criticizes district, state
By Gloria I. Wang
Two parties that claim to care about the environment have been engaging in a six-month-long legal battle over the fate of several redwood trees.
On one side is the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, the agency that protects open space and hillsides in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. On the other side is Candi Wozniak, Summit Road resident and ex-wife of Apple Computer co-founder Steve Wozniak.
The redwoods in question sit on a 1,071-acre parcel, known as the Bear Creek Open Space Preserve, in the hills above Lexington Reservoir. The land was purchased from the Arlie Land and Cattle Company for the open space district in June 1999 for $25 million.
When the open space was under the ownership of Arlie, however, its timber rights were sold to Big Creek Lumber Company. The contract ran until 2003--which meant the trees on the land could be harvested as lumber until 2003 no matter who the owner was, as long as the California Department of Forestry approved.
According to Eric Huff, Big Creek's chief forester of administration, Big Creek started its plan to harvest 460 acres of redwoods three years ago. Early this year, Big Creek applied to the state for an amendment to its plan, to harvest 40 acres of trees not included in the original plan.
The additional 40 acres bordered Wozniak's property at Summit and Bear Creek roads. When Wozniak found out about the plan in January, she was enraged. "They were able to do all that [previous] cutting with no opposition because there were no neighbors," Wozniak said in March about Big Creek. "This is just a last-ditch effort to save the trees." Wozniak also criticized the open space district's apparent lack of willingness to prevent the harvest of the redwoods.
"If we'd had a choice, we would not have had a harvest," said Craig Britton, the district's general manager.
Paul Ringgold, director of stewardship for the Peninsula Open Space Trust, added that the trust did investigate buying the timber harvest rights back from Big Creek. The trust, a nonprofit land acquisition group, financed the $25 million purchase of the land in 1999 on behalf of the open space district. This arrangement allows the open space district to bypass the public input process and other formalities in its real-estate transactions. The trust could not afford a deal with Big Creek because Big Creek was reluctant to sell the rights back at a price that "we would consider reasonable," Ringgold said.
"They've been doing as good of a job as they can for a timber harvest," Ringgold said of Big Creek.
Britton agreed, saying that the employers of Big Creek were the "most responsible people" he had ever worked with, and that even though the forest won't grow back immediately, in two years, the area that was harvested wouldn't look that much different.
"Yes, it'll come back in 100 years," Wozniak said. "But the park is today."
Wozniak unsuccessfully attempted to negotiate a deal with Big Creek and the district before the April 10 closing of the public comment period mandated by the state. Wozniak also tried to gain a protected status for the land by showing that there were archaeological artifacts and animal habitats that could be damaged if the trees were harvested. Despite Wozniak's assertions, the amendment was approved by the state.
"The CDF is there to help cut the forest down," Wozniak said about the state's role in the matter, "artifacts be damned."
Instead, Wozniak sued the state and Big Creek in May "for failing to consider my offer to purchase the redwood trees for donation to a public park for fair market value as a feasible alternatives to timber harvesting," Wozniak wrote in a July 10 letter. As a result, Wozniak obtained a temporary restraining order against Big Creek to halt the harvesting of the trees on the 40-acre parcel.
Wozniak and Big Creek eventually reached a deal: Big Creek would transfer the timber rights of part of the parcel to Wozniak, and in return Wozniak would pay Big Creek approximately $50,000 for 45 of the trees. The agreement would need the open space district's approval since the district was still the owner of the trees and the land.
According to both Big Creek's Huff and Wozniak, the district had said it would approve the agreement, which it was to hear at a June 27 board meeting. Huff said the district did a "180-degree turn," just before the meeting and said it would postpone the hearing until July 11, with a recommendation for denial.
A property line issue "was, ostensibly, the reason for their not approving the deal," Huff said.
Britton confirmed that the district was concerned about a recent discovery that Wozniak was encroaching on the district's property. A section of Wozniak's llama pasture was on the district's land. The district also found mountain bike and motorcycle trails among the trees that originated from Wozniak's home. Motorcycles "are not allowed on our land at all," Britton said.
"The evidence is overwhelming that [Wozniak] is, and has been, conducting activities in and around the timber rights area that are having an adverse effect on the environment," a staff report stated.
Britton said that Wozniak's motivation was that she wanted to have the land for her private use, and that approving the deal would encourage her usage of the land and aggravate the existing environmental problems. "We see an interrelatedness between how she treats her land," Britton said, "and her acquisition of the trees."
Huff said that the two issues were "completely irrespective." On the other hand, Huff said, it's understandable that if the district was having a property dispute with someone, it would not want to approve something that would be to the other party's benefit.
"Yes, it's an issue--but it's a separate issue," Wozniak admitted. "And it doesn't include Big Creek."
"I'm trying to save redwood trees forever and Midpen is not interested in saving redwood trees," Wozniak said. "I'm a frustrated martyr."
The week of July 16, Wozniak and Big Creek came up with a contract that would not require the district's permission: instead of transferring the timber rights, Big Creek agreed to leave those 45 redwoods alone and faced financial penalties if they harvested them. In return, Wozniak paid Big Creek the $50,000 and agreed to have the restraining order on Big Creek lifted. Since no property or rights were exchanged, the district would not have to be brought into the deal.
So far, the district has not spoken in opposition to the deal. Huff said, however, that there is a fear that the district would file some kind of lawsuit against Wozniak and Big Creek, which would cause more conflict.
"All we want to do is get on with the harvesting," Huff said.
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