BIG SUR COAST LOGGING PROPOSAL REJECTED; FIRM TO RESUBMIT HARVEST PLAN IN 10 DAYS.

Byline: Charles Davis Scripps-McClatchy Western Service

The California Division of Forestry has rejected a Grass Valley company's application to log 80 acres of redwoods and hardwood trees in a scenic area of the Big Sur coast.

But the Menasha Corp. took the rejection Thursday in stride, saying it would soon resubmit a timber harvest plan for the Mill Creek watershed, about 45 miles south of Carmel.

``What we're talking about is one minor adjustment,'' said Mark Salyer, Menasha's state administrative manager. ``We're working on that right now. I think it's safe to say the application will be resubmitted within 10 days.''

The company has precisely that length of time to correct and resubmit its timber harvest plan, and public agencies then have another 10 days to review the modifications. If the document is deemed complete - that is, if it has satisfied the CDF's so-called Standard Forest Practice Rules - it is ``filed'' by the agency and goes to public review.

After that 35-day process, which in this case would include a public hearing in Monterey, a final decision would be made by the Division of Forestry.

Although the CDF said its rejection stemmed for the most part from one particular area of the timber harvest plan, Monterey County has criticized a number of the details.

County planning staff and public works employees reviewed the plan and found it incomplete, Senior Planner Ann Towner reported Wednesday in a letter to the CDF.

She asked the state not to allow the plan to proceed to public review and disputed Menasha's claim that logging would not have an adverse environmental effect on the Mill Creek area.

Citing the county's jurisdiction in such areas, Towner said that ``It is highly probable that an Environmental Impact Report would be required by the county'' before it granted permits for grading or construction of roadways.

She also criticized the plan for failing to consider the impact of last week's forest fire, which came within half a mile of the site, and the effect runoff and erosion could have on the protected Otter Preserve, part of the federally designated Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

Towner pointed to ``numerous discrepancies and inconsistencies'' throughout the application and criticized it for conflicting with many aspects of the Big Sur Land Use Plan, including scenic and water resources, sensitive wildlife habitats and development within high erosion zones and on steep slopes.