Lower Redway Outcry After CAL FIRE Exemption Allows Removal of Old-Growth Redwoods

Residents of Lower Redway say a cluster of large redwoods that stood for an estimated 200–300 years were felled from a 0.43-acre property on the corner of Oakridge Drive and Briceland Road, leaving "a big pile of mud there and a bunch of stumps," neighbors reported. The trees were removed after property owner Robert Scarlett obtained a CAL FIRE hazard-tree exemption last year that allowed the cutting of approximately five redwoods, and the removals were carried out in January, photos show.

Scarlett, who is reported to be employed by CAL FIRE, told neighbors he bought the single-story house on the parcel for his mother and "feared that the redwoods surrounding the property posed an immediate safety risk." The action has prompted a formal complaint from the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC) and an ensuing CAL FIRE investigation into whether the hazard-tree exemption and the removals complied with state and agency rules.

The controversy has reached the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors. The issue was placed on a supervisors agenda after public comment captured at a March 5 meeting, where Southern Humboldt Supervisor Bushnell said the "process is on hold and is under review with the planning department" and that Planning Director John Ford "had nothing to do with this." Bushnell also told the board the exemption process "came from this board from a lawsuit that we got into with PG&E two years ago."

Neighbors and advocates have pressed the county for additional scrutiny. Adona White, a Lower Redway resident, submitted "an emailed letter … on behalf of a group of concerned community members" asking the county to "conduct a postmortem evaluation to learn from the recent removals and see what went wrong." Other residents argued county rules should have prevented the cutting and warned of economic impact, saying the site "was once attractive" before the trees were removed.

Advocacy groups have framed the removal as a potential precedent. Action Network called the use of a "notice of exemption" an "end-around the normal rules that govern logging" and warned that broadly applying hazard exemptions could leave the area's remaining old-growth vulnerable. Lost Coast Outpost reported that, while many were shocked to see the redwoods cut down, the action "complies with state law."

Humboldt County Planning and Building Department has begun re-evaluating its approach after identifying an inconsistency between its practices and California regulations that require hazard-tree actions to comply with local zoning ordinances. With the CAL FIRE investigation ongoing and the supervisors agenda item pending, residents, EPIC, and county officials are now seeking documents and timelines — including the original CAL FIRE exemption, any arborist reports, and county permit records — to determine whether alternatives such as limbing were considered and whether local ordinances were properly applied.