Lower B500 road removal scoping information

Redwood National Park is proposing to remove the remaining 0.8 miles of the abandoned, failing Lower B500 road in the Larry Damm Creek sub-watershed. Road removal would stabilize 15,000 cubic yards of sediment, remove a "Bailey-type" temporary bridge, a log-stringer bridge, and associated wood abutments that pose immediate threats to spawning habitat for three species of salmonids listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Logs from the log-stringer bridge and abutments are proposed to be placed in the stream channel where access allows to improve salmonid habitat. The Lower B500 road is adjacent to Larry Damm Creek and Lost Man Creek stream channels for nearly its entire length. This legacy logging haul road is the last road in the Lost Man Creek watershed identified for removal. This project would complete the targeted sediment reduction effort for the Lost Man Creek watershed that started in 1999.

Heavy equipment would be used to excavate, remove, and stabilize road fill material that poses erosion risks to downstream resources and restore natural hill slope topography and drainage. At stream crossings, road material would be excavated to original width, depth, and channel grade to expose the natural channel armor of cobbles, boulders, and woody debris. Bare soil areas would be mulched to reduce erosion of newly disturbed soils. Revegetation of the project site would occur naturally. The project area would include the road prism to be treated, staging areas for construction equipment and materials near the Lost Man Creek Picnic Area-Trailhead parking lot (0.75 acres) and access from Highway 101 via Geneva Road. Geneva Road would be repaired and regraded before onset of the wet season.

Timber harvesting of redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) and Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) forests in the Redwood Creek watershed during the 1950s through 1970s, and the associated construction of thousands of miles of logging and skid roads in the basin have resulted in stream impairment, degraded habitat for threatened salmonids, and threats to remaining groves of ancient streamside redwoods in Redwood National Park (RNP). The disturbance and degradation of stream channels caused by excess sediment delivery during large storms is one of the most significant factors negatively affecting stream ecosystems in the park. Consequently, Redwood Creek has been listed as both sediment and temperature impaired under Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act. Redwood National Park has addressed erosional threats to redwood forests and streams by removing and restoring over 250 miles of roads since 1981; however, problematic legacy logging roads and infrastructure remain, including segments that are at high risk of failure or that are in proximity to resources of special concern such as the abandoned Lower B500 Road in the Larry Damm sub-watershed.

Document Content:

Lower B500_scoping letter signed_4.8.19.pdf   (1.7 MB, PDF file) General Location.pdf   (416.7 KB, PDF file) Project Map.jpg   (254.0 KB, Image file) LowerB500 Road and Larry Damm Crk pictures.pdf   (1.6 MB, PDF file) Disclaimer: Links within the above document(s) were valid as of the date published. Note: Some of the files may be in PDF format and can be viewed using the Adobe Acrobat Reader software. You may download a free copy of from Adobe Systems.