Westwood Cemetery Dispute

The dark grey, County, light is Beaty property.

This was one of the biggest stories of 1978.  It was not only an emotional issue, but a political one, too. It all began, in May, when Beaty & Associates made their intentions known that they would be logging adjacent to the cemetery, but harvesting trees in the cemetery. A group known as the Concerned Citizens of Westwood requested intervention from the Lassen County Board of Supervisors to prevent the logging in the cemetery for they feared it would be transformed into a “valley of stumps.” The County was hesitant to interfere, as they did not have the authority, as the county did not hold title to the property. It was cited even with adverse possession with the burial rights, it did not cover timber or mineral rights. Beaty later rescinded its plan to log the cemetery. Several years later, some large pine trees were removed as a safety issue. One of those trees, had a bronze marker attached to it, to memorialize the 1929 death of Fletcher “Cub” Walker Jr. who died in a airplane crash near the cemetery.

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