First we would like to thank Sierra Pacific Industries for responsible logging, forestry management and fire prevention. This petition is not aimed to stop or hinder that division of SPI.

Sierra Pacific industries has requested the county of Tehama in Northern California to vacate easement and allow SPI to absorb and close Tramway road with gates. I will explain a few reasons this should not be allowed nor is it the public’s best interest. 

The first example is SPI N line or formerly “little giant mill rd.” The county vacated this road and released it to SPI years ago and erected gates preventing any Motor vehicle access. For approximately the last 6 years the SPI representative has told numerous people that road “had several culverts dug up, a bridge wash out and no plans to rebuild.” This leaves residents in the very steep dense terrain two options only for fire evacuation; ponderosa north or south. This is even contingent IF someone was capable of cutting locks to access a no longer maintained roadway. Currently SPI will reportedly charge one with trespassing for walking on this road as they have clear signs and no fences to not “walk” on their property. 

The next reason; recently SPI used the final amount of grant money and made portions of Ponderosa way impassable to most vehicles. This is known as the “ponderosa way phase II demonstration/implementation project.” When the county was contacted about this the county representative response was “the moneys gone” and “the plan calls for 1/2 inch crush but they said they ran out and filled with 2 inch crush.” This may have been an acceptable excuse for the actual 4 in crush added to the hillside to the south side of north fork antelope creek except I personally witnessed SPI on the final day with a road roller compressing the 1/2 inch crush properly on the side roads leading to their logging roads instead of using county money properly on the county road they were paid to properly fix. This adds approximately 10 additional minutes (for cars) to avoid a flat tire in just this small 1/2 mile area. 

Both of these instances clearly demonstrate what the intentions are of SPI road division if they are to acquire another road. The public cannot accept greater risk for fire safety. Again to clarify SPI is a neighbor and resident of Tehama county and we respect their right to make a living. We do not respect the road division to tear up our roads on our money and make more of a fire trap.

So, to the point clearly. 

Sign, if your so inclined
To request the county of Tehama deny the vacation of Tramway rd. Sierra Pacific (SPI) has requested Tehama County vacate Tramway Road easement so Sierra Pacific can close this public road.  The adjacent lands are owned by SPI. This is a through road going from Little Giant Mill Rd at Lyman Springs to Hwy 36. It’s one of four ways to get to Hwy 36 from a very large geographic area (hundreds of square miles) with dozens of residents, including me.  All access are needed in case of emergency.  This road is in poor, unmaintained condition, but is one of the few ways to get out in case of fire or other emergency. This has been a public road for over 100 years.  This goes to the Tehama County Planning Commission on October 7, at 9 am