# Sonoma County timberland owner withdraws controversial logging plan after more than a year of review > Source: > Published: 2026-06-19 12:46:48+00:00 **Getting your** [Trinity Audio](//trinityaudio.ai)player ready...A Sonoma County family’s logging plan for more than 1,000 acres of forest near the mouth of the Russian River has been withdrawn amid opposition from nearby community members and heavy state scrutiny. The plan, initially proposed by landowner Bruce Berry in early 2025, [encountered sharp pushback](https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/03/19/sonoma-county-familys-logging-plan-for-jenner-forestland-riles-coastal-community-environmentalists/) from local residents and environmental groups worried about the impact timber harvesting could have on a watershed that supports imperiled salmon runs and supplies drinking water for the village of Jenner. On June 6, following numerous rounds of plan reviews with input from multiple state and regional agencies, as well as a significant pile of public comment letters, Berry withdrew his proposal for a nonindustrial timber management plan. The withdrawal notice, submitted to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, did not specify why the family is dropping its proposal. Cal Fire manages the review and approval process for timber harvest plans. In a brief phone interview Tuesday, Berry, proprietor of Berry’s Mill and Lumberyard in Cazadero, said he was “evaluating the present and future use of the property.” He did not elaborate on what prompted him to withdraw the plan or what he might do instead. He was noncommittal when asked about whether he was considering a conservation deal for the acreage, a solution preferred by some Jenner residents and environmental groups who have weighed in against the logging plan. “It could be, but not necessarily,” he said. The ,1,099-acre property just upstream of Jenner has been logged since the 1880s and is home to Douglas fir, redwood, coast live oak, tan oak and bay trees. Berry’s state proposal, laid out in 800-plus pages, called for selective logging across most of the spread to “create a forest that is less prone to catastrophic wildfire and more easily defensible should a wildfire occur,” according to plan documents. The plan’s scope made it one of the largest proposed timber harvests on the lower Russian River and Sonoma Coast in decades. If approved it would have applied to the property in perpetuity. Cal Fire’s database tracking timber harvest plans shows Berry’s proposal went through more than a year of revisions and public feedback, with input from residents, environmental groups as well as state agencies and regional bodies. When a timber harvest plan is submitted it is studied by Cal Fire and other agencies for completeness and compliance with forest practice rules. In the case of Berry’s proposal, the involved agencies were the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, California State Parks, the California Coastal Commission, the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board and California Geologic Survey, a division of the California Department of Conservation. If a plan is deemed incomplete or inaccurate, it is returned to the applicant for revision before being accepted for further review and ultimately, a decision by Cal Fire officials. “We return about 30% of the plans for inaccuracy and incompletion,” said Eric Hedge, forest practice manager for CalFire’s coast region. The proposal submitted for Berry’s property was returned four times for a lack of “accurate and complete information,” but its fifth iteration had been deemed complete and accepted for review, Hedge said. The first letter of return, dated Jan. 23, 2025, listed 76 questions analyzing the plan in granular detail. The questions covered everything from where non-tethered tractors can operate on the property to whether the plan specifies an enforceable distance between operations and wildlife, including bank swallow and Myrtle’s silverspot butterfly habitat. Subsequent letters of return sent from Cal Fire to Berry listed fewer questions, with the most recent, dated Oct. 9, 2025, listing under 20 questions. “Ultimately the plan proponent is responsible for making changes to the plan,” Hedge said. “It’s very difficult for us to know whether the plan proponent would be receptive to the changes.” Berry’s decision to withdraw the proposal means that if he wants to pursue a similar project in the future, he will have to start the process all over again, according to Hedge. “Any timber harvesting will be preceded by mailing and posting of a legal notice,” Harlan Tranmer, Berry’s contracted forester, said in an email. Jenner resident Michelle Irwin, who opposed the plan, said she felt immediate joy after learning it had been withdrawn. But the relief was tinged by lingering questions. “It’s unclear what will come next. The plan might be resubmitted, but our hope is that it allows the parties to continue to find a fair and positive win-win solution that could help everybody be happy with the results,” Irwin said. Irwin, who moved to Jenner 26 years ago, is part of a group of residents focused on environmental stewardship and land conservation in the area. The outcome they have in mind would be for Berry’s property to be incorporated into the nearby Jenner Headlands Preserve or become a separate preserve. A key concern for Jenner residents who oppose more extensive logging operations in the area is the risk of heavy equipment on the steep slopes unleashing sediment into area waterways, including Jenner Gulch, which forms the border between Berry’s property and the 5,630-acre Jenner Headlands. Jenner Gulch serves as the main water supply for Jenner, year-round home to about 200 residents. Commercial logging, road building, dams and other development on the North Coast over the past century decimated the region’s wild salmon and steelhead stocks. In the past two decades, tens of millions in public money has been invested to restore those fish runs, with a particular focus on endangered coho salmon, viewed as an indicator species whose presence or absence can reflect a watershed’s health. Stream restoration work on one tributary that runs through the Berry property, Sheephouse Creek, has included more than $713,000 in public funds and thousands of volunteer hours. “That property is naturally highly erosive. It’s been logged a number of times. It has legacy issues in addition to natural erosion,” said Don McEnhill, deputy director of the Russian Riverkeeper, a local environmental group. “Doing additional timber harvest is just going to put more sediment in the watershed and that’s the last thing we need.” In [previous interviews](https://www.pressdemocrat.com/2026/03/19/sonoma-county-familys-logging-plan-for-jenner-forestland-riles-coastal-community-environmentalists/), Berry and Tranmer, the project’s forester, stressed they would steward the cherished property carefully and sustainably to keep the working forest in Berry’s family for generations to come. Some logging opponents don’t doubt that commitment to the property, citing the Berry family’s long legacy in the area. Irwin, the Jenner resident, called Bruce Berry “a really great guy.” “It isn’t about conquering somebody else’s ideas. It’s about collaboration and finding the best case for all for all of us, including the fish,” Irwin said. The North Coast was ground-zero for historic fights over commercial logging of redwood forests, yet with most of that old growth now gone and the little that remains safeguarded in public or conservation ownership, far less large-scale logging occurs now in the region. Selective projects in western Sonoma County, including those on the Jenner Headlands to address forest health and fire risk, have faced less opposition in recent years. Irwin was hesitant to say whether any type of harvest plan would be accepted by stakeholders. “That may be part of a win-win, but it would have to be an incredibly delicate process to be able to keep all the elements there relatively untouched, from the trees to the habitat to the salmon and our public water,” Irwin said. Until more is known about what might be next for the property, Irwin said the coalition of groups opposing the logging plans will continue to explore alternative options to float with the Berry family. “I guess the bottom line is the plan was withdrawn and we’re keeping hope alive,” she said. *You can reach Staff Writer Emma Murphy at 707-521-5228 or emma.murphy@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MurphReports.*