Search
|
Restore Our Publicly Owned Redwood Forest Jackson State Forest is a public treasure -- 50,000 acres of beautiful redwood forest located within a few hours drive of San Francisco. Until stopped by Campaign lawsuits, starting in 2000, the state had been massively logging this public forest, owned by you and me. The profits were used to subsidize the private timber industry. All logging was halted by the Campaign's lawsuits from 2001 until 2008. Thanks to the lawsuits and intense public pressure over 8 years, the state in January, 2008, adopted a forward looking management plan that greatly revised the approach to management. A key provision of the plan was the appointment of an independent advisory body, the Jackson Advisory Group (JAG). The JAG has until January 2011 to recommend changes in all aspects of the management plan for the forest. The Executive Director of the Campaign, Vince Taylor, is a member of the JAG. The Campaign intends to remain active during the 3-year review period to ensure that the public is informed and the public's interests are represented. We intend to press for adoption of the basic positions of the Campaign:
The Campaign's Bill of Rights for Jackson State Forest Find out more about the Campaign. Provide information to the Campaign in complete privacy.
Recreation
The forest is a recreation paradise. with rustic
camping and hundreds of miles of trails and roads for hikers and
bikers.
|
North Fork Spur Timber
Sale To Be Reopened for Bids June 26, 2009. At the monthly meeting of the Jackson Advisory Group (JAG), Russ Henly, Cal Fire Assistant Deputy Director for Resources, announced that Cal Fire intended to reopen bidding on the controversial North Fork Spur timber sale. When initially opened for bidding, only Schmidbauer Lumber of Eureka bid. Its bid of $108,000 was rejected by Cal Fire. A campaign was started by Jere Melo and Mike Anderson to exert political pressure to have the bid accepted or have the sale opened up for bids again (see related stories). After hearing Mr. Henly, the JAG listened to members of the timber industry repeat the arguments made at the Board of Supervisors meeting. The JAG discussed the issue briefly among themselves. It was immediately clear that the JAG supported the planned action of Cal Fire to reopen bidding, and a resolution to that effect was passed unanimously. This was a quiet ending to the controversy. Cal Fire's agreement to reopen the bidding seemed to satisfy everyone. It is still uncertain whether an acceptable bid will be received, given the nearly non-existent demand from mills for redwood. First Meeting of the New Recreation Users Task Force June 15, 2009. The
first meeting of the
Jackson Demonstration State Forest (JDSF)
Recreation User Group Task Force will be held on
July 2, 2009 at 3:00 P.M. at JDSF headquarters,
The formation of the Recreation Task Force is a significant step towards elevating recreation in the priorities of JDSF management. The formation of the Task Force was mandated in the new management plan for Jackson Forest, approved in January 2008. The Task Force, whose members were selected in an open process, will advise JDSF management on the creation of a recreation plan for the forest and on development of a user survey. It members will also provide liaison with the various groups of recreation users. The initial meeting will focus on the group structure, organization, charter, goals and objectives. Call Craig Pedersen, JDSF, (707) 964-5674, for more information. Mendocino Supervisors Urge Jackson Forest to Give Away Timber To Bailout Loggers June 24, 2009. Anderson Logging, led by Mike Anderson, and other timber men had a receptive audience yesterday. The Mendocino Board of Supervisors seemed more than anxious to show their support for the timber industry and to express their anger that Jackson Forest is still not cutting timber. Introduced by Jere Melo, Mike Anderson urged the supervisors to tell Cal Fire to reconsider a rejected bid for a Jackson Forest timber plan. If the sale goes forward, his firm will receive $1.3 million to do the logging and hauling. The rejected sale bid, by Schmidbauer Lumber, of Eureka, was $108,000 for 4.5 million board feet (BF) of timber. Admitting that the bid was very low, Mr. Anderson stressed that it would provide jobs for 30 to 40 timber workers for 3 to 4 months. His son, Miles Anderson, then told the supervisors that "In making our bid, we did not charge anything for its equipment. Our concern is for jobs for the workers." Larry Holgren of Schmidbauer explained why the bid was so low, amounting to only 2.5 cents per board foot, or a total of $108,000. His firm is interested only in Douglas Fir, which was 64 percent of the sale, and tried to find other mills to buy the redwood. Willits Redwood, which specializes in large redwood logs, would buy the larger logs, but these amounted to only 15% of the redwood. No buyers could be found for the remaining 85% of the redwood logs; so his firms bid assumed they would truck all these to Eureka, store them over the winter, and truck them back to a Mendocino County mill next year (when hopefully there would be a market). The combined trucking and logging costs totaled $1,404,000. The estimated delivered value of the timber was $1,535,000. Mr. Holgren said that his firms bid of $108,000 provided an estimated profit of only $23,500. Details of the Schmidbauer cost analysis. Vince Taylor told the supervisors that for Cal Fire to have accepted the bid would have been "economic lunacy." "In a normal year, the sale would generate about $1.8 million dollars; thus selling it now for $108,000 makes no sense for Jackson Forest." The argument is that it would create 30-40 jobs for 3-4 months. The money that would be paid to these workers would amount to about $350,000 (30 workers for 3 months). Jackson Forest would be sacrificing five times this amount of revenue. It makes no sense. Mr. Taylor said that the reason the sale didn't take place is that "the timber industry in in the tank. The supervisors should direct their upset at the investment bankers, the Federal Reserve, and the mortgage industry. They created the housing bubble and consequent collapse that has brought the timber industry (and the world economy) to its knees. Mr. Taylor also urged the supervisors to defer to the Jackson Advisory Committee, which is scheduled to discuss the sale this Friday. He said that it took eight years to take Jackson Forest out of a political fight and that the supervisors getting involved risked re-politicizing the forest. Supervisor Kendall Smith recommended the Board send a letter urging Cal Fire to submit the sale for rebidding, but the remainder of the Board wanted to tell Cal Fire "strongly" to reconsider and accept the Schmidbauer bid. A resolution containing this sentiment was passed unanimously. Campaign to Have Jackson Forest Give Away Its Timber June 23, 2009. Jere Melo, Fort Bragg City Councilman, and Mike Anderson, owner of Anderson Logging, have launched a campaign to force Cal Fire and Jackson State Forest to make a large timber sale at far below fair value. Upset that Cal Fire rejected the sole bid of $108,000 for 4.5 million board feet of timber, Mr. Melo and Mike Anderson are taking their case to the political bodies of Mendocino County. Mr. Anderson's firm would do the logging if the sale goes forward. On Monday, June 22, at the meeting of the Fort Bragg City Council, Mr. Melo introduced a resolution to request Cal Fire to resubmit the sale for bids and urge Cal Fire to price it at a level that would sell, regardless of the long-term value of the timber. Mike Anderson argued to the council that it would create 3-4 months of 30 to 40 timber jobs. The City Council voted against supporting the resolution by 3 to 2 (with Jere Melo being one of the "yea" votes). The Council decided that the reason the bid was rejected was that it was too low. Today, Tuesday, a similar issue will be be brought up before the County. Jackson Forest Fails to Sell Timber Harvest Plans June, 2009. Reflecting the depressed market for timber, Jackson Demonstration State Forest (JDSF) failed to attract any bids on two timber sales and rejected a low bid on a third sales. No bids were received for a timber sale in 14 Gulch and Dunlap North. Both of these sale areas are in the south central area of Jackson Forest, near Highway 20. The 14-Gulch sale was for 1,685,000 board feet of timber, of which about 800,000 board feet were redwood. The Dunlap North sale was for 2,600,000 board feet, of which 1,300,000 board feet were redwood. Recognizing the depressed market, especially for Douglas Fir, JDSF had set the minimum bid for Douglas Fir at just $10 per thousand; but even this almost-free price for fir was not enough to attract bids. Another sale, the North Fork Spur, received one bid of $108,000. JDSF management rejected this bid. The sale was for 4.5 million board feet; thus the bid amounted to only $25 per thousand board feet. In normal years, Jackson would expect to receive bids of $300 to $500 per thousand board feet. Jackson Advisory Group Meets June 26-27, 2009 June, 2009. The Jackson Forest Advisory Group (JAG) will hold its monthly meeting on Friday and Saturday, June 26-27, 2009. The meetings will be at the Fort Bragg Senior Center, 409 North Harold Street. Agenda Of particular interest to the public will be an item scheduled for 10:45 am on Friday to discuss the timber sale program. The item was placed on the agenda at the request of member Jere Melo, who is upset at the failure of the three sales put out for bid this year (see other stories on this page). He is particularly upset that JDSF rejected the sole bid of $108,000 for the North Fork Spur sale. In an email distributed to JAG members, Mr. Melo made clear his views: At this time, the [Jackson Forest] sale program has totally failed. Our approved Work Plan assumed a successful sale program. While the rejection of the North Fork Spur sale is a trust matter (Just what is a bidder to do with an advertised sale?), there are reasons why folks are not able to bid on Dunlap North and 14 Gulch. And there are reasons why there is a failure to resolve contracts at Brandon Gulch and Camp 3. It is time for a transparent discussion of the sale program. I have asked some local experts, Chris Baldo from Willits Redwood, Larry Holmgren from Schmidbauer Lumber and Gary Roach from Roach Logging to speak about their impressions of the sale program. We also need to hear from Cal Fire about the real reasons for the North Fork Spur rejection and about any feedback they have received from purchasers about the no-bid sales. The matter of paying for JDSF activities is no small matter. We really do need to look around and understand the very serious economic problems facing the public and private sectors in California. Local mills have high log and lumber inventories due to slow sales, and those inventories are overpriced in light of current prices. They need to work down the inventories and prices over time. And the state has a rough $24 billion deficit that will grow each day unless cuts are made and revenues are improved. The Legislature is groping for cash, even to the point of violating provisions of the state constitution and state laws they have adopted. $130,000 or so from the North Fork Spur is not much, for sure, but a rejection is $130,000 less. It is time for JAG to shake off the "Ho-Hum" attitude about the need for JDSF to finance its programs. Mr. Melo has prepared a document giving the background of the timber sales and proposing recommendations to be adopted by JAG. Mr. Melo would like members of the timber industry to suggest how the sales program could be made more to their liking. He also wants JDSF staff to justify their rejection of the bid. The major focus of Friday's meeting will be on defining and clarifying the concept of Natural Forestry and its application to Jackson State Forest. At 10:00 am, John Helms and Dan Porter will summarize forestry literature references and recommendations related to Natural Forestry. The agenda picks up the discussion of Natural Forestry at 12:15 pm, following lunch. The discussion in the afternoon will be led by the Landscape Committee, which been working on defining Natural Forestry and listing principles to use in applying the concept to Jackson Forest. This discussion will continue until adjournment at between 4:30 and 5:00 pm. The Saturday meeting will begin at 8:30. There will be a presentation by the Research Committee and an update on JDSF activities. At 10:00 am, committee breakout sessions or further JAG discussion will occur, as determined by the group. No afternoon session is planned for Saturday. Landscape Planning Committee Addresses Emulating Natural Forestry Processes March 13, 2009. The Landscape Committee of the JAG addressed at length managing Jackson State Forest by emulating natural forest processes. The central proposal at the meeting was a variation of the principles of Natural Forestry discussed in an adjoining editorial. There appeared to be a move within the Committee of managing the bulk of the forest for simultaneous restoration to old growth and timber harvesting. Detailed notes of the meeting and a link to an audio tape of the meeting are at Jackson Forum. You can add your own comments. Jackson Forest Announces Formation of Recreation Task Force Issues Call for Applications March 5, 2007. Jackson Demonstration State Forest staff, the official managers of Jackson Forest, have issued a request for applicants to serve on a newly established recreation advisory group. Applications are due by April 3, 2009. Candidates should expect to be interviewed. Officially titled the Recreation User Group Task Force, the group will provide on-going advice on recreation in Jackson Forest. Most importantly, the Task Force will have a major role in developing a new long-term recreation plan for Jackson Forest.
The invitation describes the setting for
the Task Force: The Task Force will represent a broad range of interests: Members may include, but not be limited to JDSF neighbors, cyclists, equestrians, target shooters, teachers, hunters, hikers, campers, bird watchers, mushroomers, nature photographers, trail guide writers, and event organizers. Anyone with an interest in and time and energy to devote to enhancing recreation in our 50,000-acre publicly owned redwood forest is urge to apply. Full details. |
EditorialsMisdirected IreJune 22, 2009. Jere Melo, is angry. The focus of his ire is the failure of Jackson Demonstration State Forest (JDSF) to be cutting trees this year. If things continue as they have so far this year, this will make the eighth year in which no trees have been logged in Jackson Forest. As someone who is emotionally allied with the timber industry (having held a management position at Georgia Pacific for many years), it is understandable that he wants to see Jackson Forest producing timber. If it were environmentalist who were creating the problem, his ire and the target of his anger would be understandable. But the failure to harvest trees in Jackson Forest this year has nothing to do with environmentalists or legal obstacles. Jackson Forest is now able to sell timber and has six timber harvest plans completed, two of which are under contract (though subject to negotiation on price). Despite these apparently favorable developments, Jackson Forest has so far not been able to harvest any timber so far this year. The reason no sales have occurred is obvious, and Jere Melo understands it as well as anyone: the timber market is in the tank. The distribution chain is full of unsold lumber, and mills have more than they need sitting around. The view in the industry all year has been that it would be doubtful if bids could be obtained for any substantial timber sale. Instead of directing his ire at the investment banks, the Federal Reserve, and the mortgage industry that created the housing bubble and consequent bust that has brought the housing industry, and indeed the world economy, to its knees, Mr. Melo is directing his ire at the staff of JDSF for rejecting a bid of $108,000 for 4.5 million board feet of timber! This would have amounted to giving away the public's timber for 2.5 cents per board foot! These are depression prices. Times are bad, but we are not in a depression. In rejecting a low-ball bid, the staff of JDSF used good judgment and common sense. In a few years, when the timber market returns to more normal times, this same sale will bring the state about $1.8 million, eighteen times the rejected bid. It makes complete sense for JDSF to wait for a better market. Mr. Melo has been joined in his campaign by Mike Anderson, owner of Anderson logging. Mr. Anderson's firm will be paid $1.3 million to the logging and hauling if the sale goes forward. Mr. Melo and Mr. Anderson asked the Fort Bragg City Council and the Mendocino Supervisors to request Jackson Forest to reconsider and accept the low-ball bid. The Council declined to support their request; the Supervisors endorsed it enthusiastically. So goes politics. The Supervisors have no ownership, responsibility, or accountability for Jackson Forest. This made their emotionally satisfying stance easy to take. Mr. Melo and Mr. Anderson are both members of Jackson Advisory Group (JAG) and Mr. Melo has put the item on the agenda for the upcoming JAG meeting this Friday (see Agenda and discussion document). Everyone deserves to have a hearing for his or her concern. Hopefully, though, the JAG members and staff will help Mr. Melo and Mr. Anderson to understand that the problem with sales lies not within Jackson State Forest but in the dismal economy Vince Taylor Support Natural Forestry
A key issue is the extent to which management should aim to restore most of the forest to old growth conditions while simultaneously harvesting sufficient timber to fund management of Jackson Forest and other state forests. At the heart of the issue is the question whether or not we can obtain wood products from redwood forests in a way that honors and preserves the essential natural characteristics of redwood forests. The objective of Natural Forestry is to do just that. The idea behind Natural Forestry is to emulate, to the extent practical, the natural processes that would occur in the absence of man's intervention. Obviously, harvesting timber is something that would not be done in the absence of man, but trees do die naturally in forests. The more closely harvesting activities mimic the process of mortality that naturally occurs, the more closely they would represent natural forestry. Preliminary analyses indicate that it would be feasible to place stands in Jackson Forest on a path to old growth while continuing to harvest sufficient timber to meet revenue needs. More analysis is required to translate the concept of Natural Forestry into concrete management recommendations. If you agree that Natural Forestry deserves full consideration, please click here to send a letter of support to the Jackson Advisory Group. Signs Discouraging Public Access Finally Removed In July, 2008, the Jackson Advisory Group requested Jackson Forest staff to negotiate with a landowner over a sign that discouraged public use of of Road 500 in Caspar is a highly used public road into Jackson Forest.
-
The sign was in conflict with the
stated position of Cal Fire on preventing any effort to discourage public
access to this road. I'm happy to report that new signs have been installed that emphasize the public nature of the road and request driving slowly. The landowner has, in any event, slowed traffic by installing road bumps. This is a good outcome for the public, preserving the right of public access into the forest over a publicly held right of way. Natural Forestry for Jackson ForestFebruary 17, 2009. Recently the concept of "Natural Forestry" as a management strategy for Jackson State Forest has gained prominence in discussions of the Jackson Advisory Group (JAG), the independent advisory group charged with developing recommendations for long-term management of the forest.
|
|
|
Dunlap North, Jackson State Forest |
Many of the harvest plans were developed long before the present management plan took its final shape. Indeed, a number of these plans were initially developed in the 1990’s under the 1984 management plan that was declared invalid by the courts. The priorities and goals for forest management in the new plan differ greatly from those of the 1984 plan (which primarily addressed managing the forest for maximum timber yield, with no attention to endangered species and ecological diversity and little attention to recreation)...
|
| Hare Creek Effects of Illegal ORV Use |
[Read the remainder of this article and add your comments.]
August, 2008. In 2000, the Campaign to Restore Jackson
State Redwood Forest filed suit to halt logging in Jackson State Forest.
Over the next eight years, legal actions or the threat of legal actions
compelled the Department of Forestry (formerly abbreviated as CDF, now
Cal Fire) to refrain from any logging and to develop a new management
plan and accompanying environmental documents. Finally, in January of
2008, a new management plan for Jackson State Forest was approved, with
the support of the Campaign.
One issue remained unresolved - what was to happen with the two timber
harvest plans (THPs) filed in 2000, for Brandon Gulch and Camp 3. These
plans were subsequently halted by the legal actions of the Campaign. The
state contended that the THPs were still valid, although they were long
past the 5-year expiration limit in the statutes. With the approval of
the management plan, these plans could go forward...
More
Read my latest Jackson Wanderings column, published in the Fort Bragg Advocate and Mendocino Beacon at the new Jackson Forum
July 8, 2008. As the topics being considered by the Jackson Advisory Group (JAG) expand, you will find it challenging to keep abreast of developments and to get your views heard by the JAG.
Help is here in the form of several new online capabilities.
Where We Are and Where We Came From
Branching Out, the newsletter of the Trees Foundation, recently published my article on the history and developments of the movement to reform management of Jackson State Forest, Where We Are Today and Where We Came From. Also an Adobe Acrobat Version
What Lies Ahead?
March13,
2008. Fifty-thousand acre Jackson Demonstration State Forest is a
major part of the landscape of the Mendocino County
coastal community. It also has been a focus of controversy and division
since 1995, when the Caspar Community protests against nearby logging
began an escalating effort to reform management of Jackson Forest.
As memories tend to be short, many may have forgotten that during the 1990s, the state was cutting upwards of 60,000 trees per year from our public forest. The major management goal was "to get out the cut." Timber harvests were concentrated in previously unentered 80 to 100 year-old stands, and also in local neighborhoods that adjoined the forest.
Public opposition culminated in the formation of the Campaign to Restore Jackson State Redwood Forest in 2000. The Campaign undertook a succession of lawsuits that effectively tied up all timber harvesting from 2001 until this year.
For the last two years, those at the center of the controversy have been working to find common ground. I am happy to report that these efforts have borne fruit. Am opportunity has been created to transform our local 50,000-acre Jackson Demonstration State Forest into a model of excellence, into a world-class demonstration forest that will bring pride to our community, the timber industry, the research community, and the forest managers.
In January, 2008, the Board of Forestry approved a new management plan that contained the essential features of a consensus reached among representatives of major county timber interests, the Campaign, and the Sierra Club. With this approval, the state can now legally resume logging in Jackson State. What does this mean for the forest and for you and me?
A new "Jackson Advisory Group," is currently being appointed. It will have a balance of people with environmental, conservation, timber, and science concerns. Its charge is to work during the next three years to develop a consensus on a long-term landscape, recreation, research, and management plan. The advisory group will likely invite local people with knowledge and interests to join subcommittees focused on different aspects of forest management. Monthly meetings open to the public are likely. It also seems likely that the staff of Jackson Forest will welcome formation of a "Friends of Jackson Forest" to allow volunteers to assist in restoration and recreation projects.
During the time the public is working with the advisory group to develop a consensus management plan, until 2011, all harvests in Jackson Forest will take place under strong protections "to assure that long-term planning options, particularly in sensitive areas, will not be precluded."
Protections include avoiding harvests in areas that have not been entered since 1920 or that have a significant density of large trees (with some possible initial exceptions), review of all harvest plans by the advisory group (which will provide a forum for public input), harvesting only by selection methods (no clearcuts), and retaining at least 70 percent of tree canopy (or the equivalent) and not reducing the average tree diameter in the harvested stands.
Thanks to reform legislation, revenues from harvests in Jackson Forest will only be able to be spent within the state forest system. During the first three years, harvest levels will be limited to those needed to finance operations of Jackson Forest. Harvest levels will be a fraction of those occurring during the late 1990's.
We are truly at the beginning of a revolution in management of our forest. Thanks are due to all of those in the community, the timber industry, the Board of Forestry, and most especially the Director of the Department of Forestry, Ruben Grijalva, and his staff, whose hard work and willingness to seek consensus made this possible.
Vince Taylor
For
more history, see below and
here.
The
Next Phase Begins
History and the Future
January 10, 2007. When the Board of Forestry approved the new management plan for Jackson State Forest on January 9, 2008, it was a milestone in the long struggle to reform management of Jackson Forest.
In thinking about where the reform effort goes from here, I found myself thinking about how we got to this point.
1995 marked the first public demonstration against the industrial logging practices that had characterized management of Jackson Forest since it started operations in the early 1950s. Demonstrations escalated in following years, with activists chaining themselves to gates in hopes of preventing logging in redwood stands that had grown back untouched for nearly 100 years. More
Earlier Editorials
The
Campaign's proposal for Jackson Forest
Jackson Forum is the place to go to find out what is happening in Jackson Forest -- and to have your own say. Check it out now!
Jackson Forum publishes in-depth reports on recreation and other meetings and analyses of important issues. Your comments can add to the discussion.
Real-time Online Email Archive
You can keep abreast of ongoing
discussions among JAG members at the public
JAG
Google Group.
This location has real-time archive of all emails among members of the JAG on topics of substance, together with attachments. Replies under the same heading are kept together making it easy to follow the discussion.
You can't post at the site, but you can email me any comments or thoughts, and I will email them to the JAG and post them to the group.
Cal Fire Website for Jackson Forest
The official website of Jackson Demonstration State Forest has links to official documents, timber harvest plans in Jackson, and meeting announcements related to Jackson Forest.
Jackson Forest Monthly Reports
January, 2009. Jackson Demonstration State Forest (JDSF) makes monthly status reports on activities to the Board of Forestry and the Jackson Advisory Group.
2009
|
Please
make a tax-deductible donation to support managing the public
forest for the public interest |
|
See Our Slide
Show |
| You can find more historical information on Jackson State Forest at www.dharmacloud.com. |
Visitors since March 1, 2002:
Dharma Cloud Foundation
All contents of this site copyright © 2000-2009. All rights reserved.
Non-commercial reproduction of contents is hereby granted,
subject to attribution and reference to www.jacksonforest.com
May
12, 2009. The Jackson Advisory Committee is close to deciding on the
principles to use in developing a long-term management plan for Jackson
State Forest. 
