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The California Department of Forestry (CDF) has attempted to hide its
clearcut-heavy management plans for Jackson State Forest under a banner of
"old growth forest restoration." CDF’s characterization of its plan for
management of Jackson State as old growth restoration is apparently in
response to the 4000 public comments it received on its draft management
plan and Environmental Impact Report (EIR). The overwhelming majority of
these comments requested that 50,000-acre Jackson State Forest be restored
to old growth for habitat, recreation, education, and research. In the
September 30, 2002 announcement of the adoption of a final management plan
for Jackson State Forest, CDF Director Andrea Tuttle trumpeted the plan as
the cornerstone of a state commitment to "create for the future the largest
block of old growth forest between San Francisco and Humboldt County."
Secretary of the Resources Agency, Mary Nichols, said, "Our vision is to
recreate a large, old growth redwood forest with habitat for endangered
species, including coho salmon and the marbled murrelet, as a natural
legacy for the future. We are committed to planning that considers the
seventh generation."
Despite the banner of old growth restoration, the final plan adopted by
CDF was little changed from its draft plan, which met heavy criticism from
forest professionals and the public alike. The final plan will still
clearcut one-half of the forest, cut the oldest unentered second-growth
stands, provide minimal stream protection, authorize use of herbicides, and
defer development of a plan for recreation.
In commenting upon the CDF announcement, Vince Taylor, Executive
Director of the Campaign to Restore Jackson State Forest, said, "Mary
Nichols has clearly stated the vision for Jackson State held by the
Campaign and endorsed by the California public. We now call the state to
make the management of Jackson State Forest conform to this vision. The
reality belies the rhetoric. The Jackson State Forest management plan is a
travesty of old growth restoration. Outside of legally protected areas, it
gives highest priority to logging the oldest unentered second-growth
redwood stands, exactly those stands that would provide the core of a
restoration forest. It will apply various forms of clearcutting – the
ecologically most destructive type of logging – to fully two-thirds of the
forest where this is legally possible."
According to the Campaign to Restore Jackson State Redwood Forest, over
11,600 acres of the 13-14,000 acres proposed by the state for restoration
to old growth are in state parks, which are prohibited by law from timber
harvesting. Only 2,500 acres of the restoration area is within Jackson
State Forest (only 5% of the Forest’s 50,000 acres), and all of these acres
are within the Mendocino Woodlands Recreation Demonstration Area and are
protected from commercial timber harvesting by law.
Commenting on this analysis, Mr. Taylor of the Campaign to Restore
Jackson State Redwood Forest said, "CDF had been making profits of $15
million per year logging Jackson State until stopped by our lawsuit
requiring an updated management plan, and it is determined to resume
logging as soon as possible despite overwhelming public opposition. CDF is
merely playing political lip service to old growth restoration, trying to
repackage its large-scale commercial timber harvesting plans in green
sheep’s clothing."
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