9.3 FOREST RESOURCES

Sutter County is primarily an intensive agricultural area. Unlike counties to the north and east, it does not have large and extensive forested areas. The 1992 Census of Agriculture listed Sutter County as having 15,856 acres of woodlands. Of this acreage, virtually the entire amount is in private ownership and is generally in two types of habitat. The first area is the riparian habitats along the Sacramento, Feather and Bear Rivers, the Sutter Bypass and within the Butte Sink area. The second area is the upland terrain around the Sutter Buttes. Some additional stands of oak hardwood also exist throughout the agricultural area, particularly in the area near Live Oak, as remnants of the pre-modern agricultural forests that covered the Sacramento Valley floor.

There are practically no softwood resources and only a few hardwood resources in Sutter County. The primary hardwood trees in Sutter County are the Valley Oak (Quercus lobata) and the Blue Oak (Q. douglasii). Additionally, the California Department of Fish and Game's Natural Diversity Data Base lists several locations of remaining stands of the Great Valley Riparian Forest containing poplars, box elder, sycamore and other riparian hardwood trees.
The few wood resources that are harvested within Sutter County are used almost entirely for firewood. The primary wood type used for firewood, other than orchards that are removed, is oak, thus leading to the additional loss of the County's remaining oak trees.

"A Planner's Guide for Oak Woodlands" indicates two general varieties of oaks are commonly found in Sutter County. Those varieties are: Valley Oak and Blue Oak. The following summary is taken from that publication:

Valley Oak (Quercus lobata)

Valley oak is found in three types of locations: riparian areas and floodplains, alluvial fans and occasional flat areas, and upland terraces and plateaus. Valley oaks usually grow below 2,000 feet, but where the soil is deep and water is available, it may grow at much higher elevations, up to 5,600 feet.

On the deep soils of well-watered banks and terraces, valley oak form riverine forests and dense woodlands. In these forests and woodlands, valley oak gains height rapidly, and grows tall and straight; most of the tree's branches are clustered at the top.

In the open oak savanna the trees receive less moisture and are less crowded. The savanna oak grow more slowly than in the riverine environs and consequently develop more structure character. Arching branches often reach the ground and the tree takes on a more layered look. Cluster of foliage and weeping branchlets dangle from the outer edges of the canopy. Older trees exhibit large cavities that mark the site of lost branches.

Blue Oak (Quercus douglasii)

Quercus douglasii is the landmark tree of the foothills surrounding California's Central Valley. Blue Oaks flourish in the Sutter Buttes. The common name- blue oak- is based upon the characteristic blue-green color of its leaves. An endemic species, blue oak dominates half of California's oak woodland and savannas. Low rainfall and drought are normal features of these landscapes and during the driest years, blue oak drops its small, tough leaves early to conserve moisture. Blue oak is also tolerant of serpentine soils, a hostile environment for most plants.

Blue oak stands are often characterized as either savanna or woodlands based upon tree density. Savanna, consisting of widely spaced trees, are usually found at lower elevations. Woodlands, more common at higher elevations, differ from savannas in the greater number of trees per acre - more than half of the ground may be shaded by tree canopy.

Blue oaks grow in single species stands for over half of its distribution. In other areas, its most common associate is foothill pine (Pinus sabiniana). Other trees found growing with blue oak include coast live oak (Querus agrifolia), valley oak (Q. lobata), Garry oak (Q. garryana), interior live oak (Q. wislazenii), bukeye (Aesculus californica) and madrone (Arbutus menziesii).

Throughout its range, blue oak is closely identified with ranching and livestock. The acorns and foliage provide nutritional forage for livestock, as well as for deer and other wildlife. Its wood has little commercial value as lumber and the primary uses have been for fencing and fuelwood. In some areas blue oak is still known as post oak. During the Gold Rush Period (circa 1849), blue oak was cut extensively for mining timber and fuelwood. For several decades - the 1950s and 1960s - blue oak was cleared from thousands of acres as part of a federally funded range improvement program. This practice has been discontinued, but blue oak is still harvested for fuelwood.

9.4 MINERAL RESOURCES

The Sutter County Surface Mining Code and the Zoning Code both provide for the extraction of mineral resources from unincorporated lands. The extraction of mineral resources in Sutter County has historically been limited to the extraction of clay, sand, soils and rock. These materials have generally been used for construction; however, at one time, clay was extracted by Gladding-McBean for their Lincoln processing facility to manufacture tile, brick and other clay products. The Gladding-McBean Mine closed some time prior to 1980. Other previous mining sites which have also closed have generally been "borrow sites" for highway or other major construction activities.

Sutter County has no deep-shaft mining activity. All mines in the County are open-pit type which require the possession of a valid surface mining permit and reclamation plan under both the County's Surface Mining Code and the State's Surface Mining and Reclamation Act.

TABLE 9.4-1
1995 PERMITTED SURFACE MINES

Four of the permitted mining sites produce either rock and/or sand for construction. These mines have been in operation for at least the last twenty years. Estimates completed in 1982 indicated that based upon annual production yields, there were sufficient reserves in the existing mines to meet local needs for 75 years.

One aggregate material normally produced from these mines is commonly called "Butte Rock". It is a term associated with the materials found in the foothill area of the Sutter Buttes. This material is weathered volcanic rock and is characterized as a good base material due to its compaction and natural cementing capabilities. Butte Rock, however, lacks the strength required for concrete or other high load aggregate uses.

FIGURE 9.4-1
CURRENTLY PERMITTED SURFACE MINE LOCATIONS

The two remaining mining sites with valid surface mining permits are both soil borrow sites. The purpose of these mines is to provide soil material for major construction activities; e.g., building the roadbed for Highway 70/99 widening. Both borrow sites or mines will be short-term operations. The Reclamation District 1001 Mine is expected to be completed and reclaimed by the year 2000 while the Gray Mine, which has yet to open, will also probably be completed and reclaimed by then.

River sand and gravel deposits have been identified on the Feather and Bear Rivers. These deposits are the results of mining activity that occurred in the late 1800s and early 1900s in the Sierra gold fields. The material is of good quality for concrete use; however, due to environmental concerns and the ease of other supplies, no mining of this material has been pursued.

In 1986, the California Division of Mines and Geology issued Special Report 132 entitled, "Mineral Land Classification: Portland Cement and Concrete-Grade Aggregate in the Yuba City-Marysville Production-Consumption Area". That report was prepared pursuant to amendments in the State's Surface Mining and Reclamation Act. The report found no significant or substantial deposits located within Sutter County. If the report had found any such deposits, the County would have been required to protect those deposits from conflicting uses.

Special Report 132 did identify significant deposits of aggregate within the Yuba City-Marysville Production-Consumption Area. These deposits were all in Yuba County and generally located in the Yuba Gold Fields area. The report estimated that the 50-year consumption rate for the local area would utilize only two percent of the available aggregate supply.

Changes to the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act now require that all surface mines have financial assurances to guarantee that the property is reclaimed in compliance with the mines' approved reclamation plan. The act requires all mine operators to submit estimates of the reclamation cost. Local government agencies or, in their place, the State Division of Mines and Geology, shall review and approve the proposed estimate upon accepting the amount.

Under the act, without financial assurances in place, a mine can be forced to close. Currently, many mine operators in California do not have financial assurances in place, and the State has amended the financial assurance legislation repeatedly providing inducements to file, penalties for not filing, extension of time to file, revocation of lead agency authority, etc. The responsibilities to administer the financial assurance requirement has placed a burden on already limited local county resources.

As of the spring of 1995, only three mines had approved financial assurance plans in place.

A major problem with the development of financial assurance proposals is that the Act requires that local agencies take the lead in the review and approval of the financial assurance proposals. These proposals are complicated and with only a few mines, Sutter County lacks the technical expertise to evaluate them. Therefore, Sutter County has relied upon the State for assistance in review of the proposals. Given the State's budget problems over the last several years, local assistance has been prioritized with those mines selling material to the State (Caltrans) at the top of the list. To date, State assistance has been limited.