| SAVE THE DATES! Public Meetings starting on October 21st! |
Thank you to our Friends from the Mendocino Trail Stewards for this message! The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire) is making plans to log more second-growth redwood trees, the carbon storing champions of Jackson State Forest. Three new timber harvest plans (THPs) are in the works for the Jackson Demonstration State Forest (JDSF). These plans have already been approved by the Jackson Advisory Group (JAG) without a new forest management plan in place. These plans still include logging some of the largest trees, andthe State Forest’s program manager, Kevin Conway, made it clear at the October 4th JAG meeting that there will be no diameter limit on any new operations. Although a 48” diameter limit was set when CalFire announced its “New Vision” in 2022, that limit was put in place only for THPs that were “current” at the time the document was written. So much for public trust. The Trail Stewards maintain that no new THPs be approved until a new Forest Management Plan is in place, complete with the inclusion of tribal co-management and a proper environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).For the past few years, we have advocated for an update to the outdated 2016 Forest Management Plan to account for a rapidly changing climate. Now is your chance to give input on a plan that will guide the management of JDSF for the next decade. CalFire has just announced it will hold eight public meetings (four in Fort Bragg and four in Ukiah) to get input on the draft management plan for JDSF, and the first one is coming up soon, on October 21st. Strong participation is crucial, so mark your calendars and plan to attend as many of these meetings as possible! If you pre-register, you will be sent materials before the meeting date, so this is encouraged. There is an option to attend the meetings online, but be aware that you will not be able to comment if you participate online. We’ll send reminders and ideas for comments as this process develops. We hope to see you there! Pre-Register Here |
Here are the latest THPs approved by the JAG:
Camp One THP (formerly Boundary Creek THP)
Size: 509 acres
Location: north of Highway 20, adjacent to Camp One and the South Fork Noyo River
Size: 240-660 acres
Location: north of Highway 20, adjacent to Camp 20 and the North Fork Big River
Pyro Silviculture THP (formerly Old Berry THP)
Size: 293 acres
Location: east of Road 408, just north of Manly Gulch Trail and adjacent to Berry and Thompson Gulches and the Mendocino Woodlands State Park.
