We are Redway residents trying to enforce the Q-Zone Ordinance that protects redwoods in Lower Redway.

Old-growth redwoods are irreplaceable and invaluable. The community depends on Humboldt County to uphold the protections designed to preserve them. Our purpose is to correct the systemic gaps that allowed this failure, and ensure that old-growth redwoods in Lower Redway are never again put at risk through inadequate review. This website documents the timeline of events, photos of the site before, during and after the felling, and contains relevant video and documents.

The Story

Lower Redway is a unique residential neighborhood that happens to exist in an old-growth forest, established by the Pacific Lumber Company in the 1920s and ’30s for employees who lived in the cloudier, cooler, northern part of the county to enjoy the inland heat by the South Fork of the Eel River.

Beginning with its inception as a (largely) summer community, people have had to oppose attempts to log the trees there.  The formerly most notable event in recent memory took place in 1978 (<link to> see articles from SF Examiner and Sac Bee) when a parcel was logged.  After several other attempts—including one in the 1980s and one in the 1990s—the county’s Planning Department stepped in, did their job, and did not allow the trees to be logged. The Q Zone Ordinance requires a special permit from the Planning Department of Humboldt County prior to a logging operation.  <INSERT language from Q Zone>   This is unequivocal and clear language in the ordinance.

Fast forward to 2025: In October of that year, 24-year-old Robert Scarlett (who had lived across from this property on the same street), bought the parcel and home at 20 Oak Ridge Drive. He said he did it so his mom could move into the house.  On Oct 21, prior to him owning the home, he had a site visit with CALFIRE Registered Professional Forester (RPF) Lucas Titus and Licensed Timber Operator (LTO) Levi Cope.  Robert Scarlett is also a CALFIRE employee. <INSERT Scarlett Exemption here>

Robert Scarlett did not officially own the property until October 23, 2025.  They discussed what Scarlett believed was the hazard of falling limbs from large old-growth trees.  On December 15 an emergency exemption for structure protection was filed with CALFIRE and approved the next day, December 16.

Prior to the exemption’s approval, the RPF reached out to the county and inquired about whether a special permit was required, as per the Q Zone.  He was informed that the logging operation did not need a special permit because the county believed CALFIRE had jurisdiction over the county’s own ordinance.  Before residents of Redway knew it, we saw the girdled trees as we passed by on Briceland Road.  The logger had completely girdled the four trees that were set to be cut, thereby ensuring the trees would die.  Residents were outraged and reached out to their county supervisor and the media (<INSERT ARTICLES from LCO and KK).  On the fourth tree, they cut a co-stem.  The remaining 10′-diameter tree now shows a notch cut where the smaller tree once was.

Between December 16, 2025, and January 6, 2026: One of the controversial aspects of this operation is that the RPF and LTO used the two structures on Scarlett’s as justification for cutting trees that they claimed were a danger—there was a main house and a secondary 500-square-foot dwelling.  However, after the exemption was granted and prior to the logging, Scarlett burned the secondary structure entirely, and there is now no sign of it.  He used that area for a log deck when the trees got felled.

Approximately January 6, 2026, logging began. Scarlett logged four old-growth trees on the newly acquired property. 

January 13: A climber was in the 5^th tree, limbing the last and largest tree when he dropped a branch on the power lines, causing a power outage in Lower Redway for hours and the internet to be out for days.  That timber operator left the project soon after this incident. (LINK to photos)

January 20: PG&E spokesperson speaks on KMUD and says they are aware of the trees, they have no plan to cut the remaining tree, but they are monitoring it and will limb when necessary.  (This is after the co-stem was removed.) PG&E routinely cuts limbs and trees deemed hazardous to its power lines, but Scarlett’s weren’t considered hazards.  <INSERT PG&E AUDIO HERE>

Since the first LTO left, in order to cut the last tree, the Planning Dept told Scarlett he needed to find another RPF to confirm that the tree was a hazard and needed to be cut down. 

March 24: Scarlett found a local forester, Steve Hohman, who says it’s a hazard. <INSERT report> The county is relying entirely on this report.  Hohman and an arborist created the report.

Originally the concern was falling limbs but now, according to Hohman’s report, the concern has changed to be a cavity at the top of the tree, the bole that is now exposed (by the cutting of the co-stem), and a driveway that was used years ago at the base of the tree. 

On February 3, 2026, concerned community members held their first community meeting to discuss protecting the old-growth trees in Lower Redway.   At that meeting, they established the Old-Growth Neighborhood Association (OGNA). Realizing that the county had seriously dropped the ball by failing to enforce the Q Zone, residents decided to go to a Supervisors’ meeting and speak during the public comment period.  Twelve spoke at the March 3 meeting, and several media outlets reported on it.  In the following weeks several people spoke again during the non-agenda public comment, as we had not been officially assigned as an agenda item. 

March 13: A number of residents had a Zoom meeting with Supervisor Michelle Bushnell and Planning Director John Ford. We were trying to convince them that indeed the county did have jurisdiction and should enforce the Q Zone.  They seemed hesitant at best and deferred to CALFIRE’s authority.  Michelle Bushnell said she would give us a contact at CALFIRE so we could speak to them directly. 

April 4, 2026 Representative Chris Rogers held a town hall meeting in Garberville where several community members brought up the logged trees in Lower Redway and their concerns about protecting old-growth redwoods as the Q-Zone ordinance intends.  He said he was aware of the issue and would bring it up with CALFIRE director and Fire Chief Joe Tyler, and he did.  On April 8, 2026, at a Budget Hearing in Sacramento, Rogers directly asked Tyler about this.  <INSERT video from assembly hearing>.  After this, Sue Moloney contacted Joe Tyler by finding his email on the CALFIRE website, and he immediately responded saying he was aware of the issue and if there had been impropriety because both the LTO and RPF were CALFIRE employees, then they would be investigated. 

Community members sent numerous emails to CALFIRE commenting on the LTO and RPF both being CALFIRE employees. 

April 2026: Residents get word that Scarlett found a new LTO and revised the exemption to log the last tree on May 1. 

April 30: Heavy equipment, climbers and loggers were on site.  Community members gathered to protest and witness.  We were told the plan was to limb the tree entirely and cut the top off that day. The climber was having a lot of difficulty climbing the tree because of its girth. Later in the afternoon, Sheriffs Dept and CHP came by, and the CHP officer shut down the operation, saying an encroachment permit needed to be issued for safety, and the road would need to be shut as the public could not be that close to the logging.

May 1: A small number of residents met with Michelle Bushnell and Director John Ford (they were on their way to the Cove to talk about a situation in Shelter Cove), and Ford informed us that in the future, the county would indeed be enforcing the Q Zone—but after this tree was cut.  He said that Scarlett would get an encroachment permit and he would cut the tree and after that, the county would enforce the Q Zone Ordinance. 

Members of the OGNA were outraged and contacted Fred Evenson, a lawyer with the Ecology Law Center.  Evenson sent a letter to the county informing them that not only did they have jurisdiction, but it was their duty to enforce the Q Zone.  As a result of the letter, the county told Scarlett he would need to apply for a special permit, triggering the process of the Q Zone Ordinance.  A hearing is now set for June 18 at the Planning Commission’s meeting.