Monroe Robinson Presentation Jackson State Forest EIR scoping session in Ft. Bragg, February 27, 2004

The scooping session conducted by the California Board of Forestry brought clarity to me. With standing room only many people spoke of wanting timber jobs to resume in Jackson Demonstration State Forest (JDSF) and others spoke of more emphasis on restoration, demonstration and recreation. I request and believe possible that the Board of Forestry can rewrite the management for JDSF where everyone's interest is realized. The problem is that JDSF has been managed very much like all of the industrial timber lands in the region, where profits leave the forest, sent to corporate headquarters. JDSF has been managed to extract as much timber as possible with the profit sent to Sacramento. JDSF like industrial lands has given little consideration to fisheries, restoration or recreation. When the state of California bought this forest in 1947, the eastern part of the forest contained many thousands of acres of untouched old growth. The headwater areas of all of the streams and rivers provided undisturbed spawning areas for coho salmon and steelhead trout, as was the headwater areas of adjoining timber lands. This forest did its part to support our community having the largest commercial salmon fleet on the West Coast. This forest did its part to maintain a very active sport fishery for salmon and steelhead, bringing people from throughout the state and nation supporting our local and state economies. After WWII as the state of California bought this forest, large bulldozers and chainsaws brought devastation to the forests as never before. The 1983 management plan which JDSF operated under until two years ago called for the "liquidation" of the remaining old growth. JDSF has primarily demonstrated what we have seen across timber lands, how to clear cut virtually every acre and the removal of large woody debris from salmon and steelhead spawning area while providing few timber jobs. The cost has not only been the liquidation of all of the old growth but also the liquidation of all of the commercial salmon jobs and the entire sport fishery and jobs that it provided. A new management plan should leave the profits from harvesting timber in the forest, creating more jobs, not less. This plan would selectively harvest fewer in such a way that a year later you couldn't tell the forest had been entered. Such a method uses more manpower, therefore the number of jobs is actually increased. The plan would widen the no cut zones to protect rivers and streams, restore roads to minimize erosion and use no herbicides. Jackson State Forest's demonstration of 'adding large woody debris' needs to be continued on a larger scale to restore the streams. A trail should be constructed starting at Mendocino, following Big River to its headwaters in James Creek then passing through several old growth groves ending on Noyo River, Fort Bragg. A future generation of youth will grow up riding their bikes to a local creek to catch steelhead. JDSF will do its part to recreate the commercial salmon industry which it helped to destroy. JDSF would bring both recreational visitors and small timber owners to enjoy and learn from this demonstration forest. Our community will come together rather than being divided.