UPDATE 6/11/21 — Before dawn this morning protesters once more gathered to attempt a blockade of loggers in the Jackson Demonstration State Forest. We’ll have an update on the situation later today.
ORIGINAL
CASPAR, 6/10/21 — At dawn on Thursday, from his perch atop the “Mama tree” in Jackson Demonstration State Forest (JDSF), tree-sitter “Matt” heard the unmistakable buzz, crack and thump of professional tree fallers at work. The private tree fallers are cutting timber on a contract with Cal Fire, more formally known as the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, which owns and operates the nearly 50,000 acre forest.
But activists associated with the Mendocino Trail Stewards and EarthFirst (though not technically working with those organizations) are mounting a challenge to this new bout of logging, asking for a two year moratorium.
This was also the sound of the start of the latest conflict over how timber harvesting should be handled on the North Coast. For some, the conflict harkens back to Redwood Summer of 1990 and the “Timber Wars” that followed, deeply dividing the community at a time when timber companies were already closing mills and exporting logs to be milled abroad, rather than milling them locally. Now different issues, including climate change and the fear of forest fires, dominate the agenda.
Back in April, tree sitters occupied two 150+ year old redwood trees near the Caspar entrance to JDSF that were dubbed the “mama” and “papa” trees. And though Cal Fire has relented on cutting those particular trees and other second growth giants in their immediate area, logging is restarting in much of the rest of the forest. Anna Marie Stenberg, who was a leader in Redwood Summer of old is highly regarded as an activist leader of the new protests.
Unidentified people placed a Dodge mini-van across a logging road to block the start of the timber harvest in Jackson on Wednesday (see photo), said activist George Russell. That act seemed to work to keep the timber harvest from starting for Wednesday. Activists were set up to block entrance to loggers on Thursday, but Cal Fire and the tree fallers went into the forest a different way, said Russell.
With a huge area to be seen and heard from his perch, “Matt” contacted local activists, who quickly mounted a protest.
By mid-day, the logging had ceased but plans were moving forward.
Cal Fire has posted announcements and press releases telling people not to be in the area of the harvests but activists have asserted the forest belongs to all and charters should be changed to steer away from harvesting.
Activists want to delay the JSDF timber harvest. One problem has been that nobody complained during the official comment period, which coincided with the start of the global pandemic in 2020. Timber harvesting has always been part of the function of JDSF. But activists say times have changed and they also question specific aspects of the harvest plans now underway.
At the Caspar JDSF kiosk near Caspar, activists including Linda Perkins, Bill Heil and George Russell were among those who gathered and waited in case there was more action in the forest. That mostly meant a cordial meeting with a group of biologists who came to check on plans to protect the bard and spotted owl. There was also a 24-hour security post set up by Santa Rosa-based security company Armorous, with a porta potty for the guard delivered by Cal Fire on Thursday. That security post was installed after the activists dragged and disabled the Dodge van. Security guards can make arrests like any citizen and are trained to do so.
Jackson Demonstration State Forest is the largest demonstration forest in California, stretching from Caspar to Highway 20 between Fort Bragg and Willits.
“Activists want to delay the JDSF timber harvest. One problem has been that nobody complained during the official comment period, which coincided with the start of the global pandemic in 2020.”
Not true!!! My wife and I were among the 47 individuals who, being notified at the last minute (before the comment period ended), wrote our concerns regarding this particular Caspar 500 THP (Timber Harvest Plan) 1-20-00006-MEN, back in the spring of 2020. Covid 19 was ramping up, but did not deter us at the time. We organized a last minute email writing campaign submitting individual comments of concern. All the emails were then sent to the appropriate JDSF email address that we had been given, and ultimately to Mike Powers, head of JDSF. The emails were never forwarded to the head office in Santa Rosa, which unbeknownst to us was where they needed to go, and therefore never posted to CAL-TREES website. Hence, a false appearance of a lack of public concern.
An activist group, the Mendocino Trail Stewards, was officially created at this time to stop this particular THP – Caspar 500. It is appalling that JDSF is unwilling to sit down for any dialogue in holding up the THP in question. To make matters worse, there are 5 other THPs, two of which threatens the precious Mendocino Woodlands area. These are known as the Little North Fork Big River and the Railroad Gulch THPs.
We are not against timber harvesting, but these 6 THPs threaten to change the complexion of the western sector of the JDSF including the Caspar area where water issues are a concern. A national historic landmark is also threatened.
Please speak up to protect these areas from future THPs. These forests attract visitation in the form of tourism – mountain biking, hiking, mushrooming and equestrian activities, which brings many more dollars to our communities than do these timber harvests. $374 million tourist dollars came into our county in 2017. Tourism continues to be our number one asset. Many come for the peace and tranquility of these forest lands.
Thank you for your interest in our concerns.
Roo Harris and Mary Kay Murche
Little River CA
Roo, comments alone can not stop a THP. Especially abunch of form comments expressing the same misinformation and unfounded fears. MTS has no right to stop a legal harvesting project. If they want the forest management changed work through the legal process towards such change. Calfire is probably willing to dialoge but if the other side will not listen what is the point? News flash…JDSF is a demonstration forest and not a park or preserve. Every acre of it may have some management on it at some point wether that be a timber harvest, brush removal, prescribed fire, or something else. Sure there can be too many projects in a area, and reducing those could be a realistic goal.
JDSF has been managed for decades and is one reason the forest looks as good as it does. I propose tourism in county is not affected by JDSF timber harvesting. Most tourists come for the ocean and I have not noticed nor heard of a decline of visitors and users of JDSF. Both the ocean & forests of JDSF will remain for residents and visitors alike to enjoy for decades to come.
In response to “flash robster”. When is the last time you took a stroll in Jackson forest ? Sure it’s not bad driving through, but that’s only because they don’t destroy the forest where it can be easily seen by the public. Try walking casually through an area logged in the last 5 years. Just try because unless your in great shape and have great dexterity and stamina, I doubt you’d make it very far.
I’ve spent more hours than you can imagine exploring the once great forest and it makes me so frustrated, angry, depressed, and disgusted to witness the decline and total destruction of some of the most awe inspiring places I’ve ever been. Countless mushroom patches destroyed. Rainbows in the standing water the winter after they hack and squirt all trees they consider unprofitable. The smell in those areas, and the skeletons of all those dead trees, the silence of areas devoid of life. Absolutely sickining.
From what I’ve noticed, and I spend six months more or less a year mushroom hunting, is that even after replanting redwoods, they do not grow much without the cover of other trees. Look how big the trees are at Chamberlin creek. Across from the steam donkey. I think they were planted at least 10 years ago, and they are sad looking indeed.
That, in my opinion, is one of many examples that demonstrates the failure of cal fire to effectively manage the forest. Have you noticed the lack of fog banks that used to flood the forest and spill over into willits area? Those trees created a climate that they thrived in. Moisture and dew would condense fall to the ground keeping everything damp even in summer. Even with no rain. Now it’s so dry, ridiculously dry, even a day after a storm in winter, it would not take much for it to burn.
Who owns the forest? The state? Is it not taxpayers paying cal fires wages? if you believe that it is ok to continue to rape the earth to line politicians pockets. Whatever. Cal fire needs to stop. People need to stop. There are better ways. They may not be cheaper. Can you really put a price on clean air and water? Take a look at some satellite images of the forest and notice the scars. It’s very sad. Deeply shaded areas that I used to frequent for the natural spring water and coolness it provided even in summer are now arid, the springs gone. Slash and brush making areas impassable, dry tinder waiting to burst to flame. And it will. Without the live tree canopy, tan oaks and madrone included, moisture levels become nil. The wind comes through drying it out even more.
I can go on but I get so emotional I can’t stay on topic and start to rant. With all due respect I think you are wrong about cal fires management of the forest being good and the forest looking good. I’ve never seen it look so bad. Conditions get worse year by year. If you want a better idea what they are doing, go into the forest. It looks great from the highway. That’s what they want you to see. I don’t think most would feel ok about what cal fire are doing if cal fire didn’t hide it so well.
I guess the Chardonnay sipping, Tesla driving elitist protestors and their useful idiot tree-sitting lackeys would prefer that their forest products come from the Amazon.
Communists. Neo-liberal Marxists. Same old boring (Saul Alinski) playbook. Demonize and silence with violence. There’s nothing new here. These are Sociology and Anthropology majors living on public assistance and NGO protest payments. Sad.
And to you sir, there are those of us who want to live in harmony with the earth. Not all of us want to use up all natural resources and pollute until the earth is unihabitable. Take all the money and wealth on this planet and try to buy another one with all the perks we have(had) here. Clean breathable air. Clean drinkable water. Abundant (used to be) forests and wildlife. Or maybe we should all bank on companies like Pepsi co. and Remco, and Mendocino forest products and Cal fire, to lead us into a sustainable, cancer ridden lifeless future. With all due respect, F#*k you sir. Trees were here first.
It seems rather passe that we are “harvesting” redwood trees, which are the biggest carbon sinks in the world. Harvesting them at all is “idiotic”, to quote the previous comment, to say nothing of harvesting six areas endemic to this rare tree and attractive to tourists. I think at the very least we should find out who the lucky recipients are of this “harvest plan”, how much they make on the trees, and how much they pay the government for the privilege. Even an investigation into kickbacks would not be out of line. Are there any reports on any of that? I personally love this world of ours too much to say goodbye (due to global warming disaster) just to continue practices that should have been investigated long ago, i.e. the cutting down of redwood forests for special private interests and the destruction of the Amazon in order to graze cattle for beef for McDonald’s, etc.
1. You apparently know little about coastal redwood ecology, its reproductive characteristics, geographic range or response to timber harvesting.
2. The legislative mandate that dictates the management of the Jackson Demonstration State Forest, specifically the reason why “Demonstration” is included in its title.
3. Your rather odd quasi-religious beliefs about a plant.
4. The extreme likelihood that you couldn’t correctly describe the origins of one out of a hundred forest products you use.
I love that CalFire supplies a portapotty for a couple security guards to protect their precious timber harvest, but they can’t supply a toilet for the thousands of people who visit the Forest each year. Apparently sustainable forestry means it’s okay to let the poop pile up as long as it’s not affecting your bottom line.
Then lobby for permanent toilets. That’s a worthwhile objective.
Fed up, you should be fed up with putting up with the historic, disastrous effects of over-log–ging here and clearing the rain forests since you, like everyone else, have to breathe air, drink water, eat food, and stay clear of wildfires. You are human, not indestructible. Our current practices are beyond stupid as they are responsible for global warming, drought and even possible food scarcity in the future.
I’m not disputing over-cutting in the rainforests and I’m in complete agreement with you. Thinning in Jackson forest is far removed from that.
Fed up I don’t want to get into the many reasons “thinning” is not exactly what the problem is in the JSDF. My complaint is there seems to be little oversight or review regarding this “thinning” and who profits. It should be an open process and policy should be updated, since the rules date back to a time before drought and global warming. Also, the redwood forest IS a rain forest, and the trees exude moist vapors that feed the life forms in the forest and contribute to moisture in the atmosphere. Also, cutting exposes the native life forms to sunlight and drought, which then allows non-native species to move in and endanger the forest with wildfire. So Cal Fire is actually “demonstrating” some outdated and ill-informed practices that should be reviewed and updated to better reflect the times and the will of the public and scholars studying the rain forest.
Sorry for the ongoing discussion, but logging in California is regulated by the Z’Berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973 and the California Forest Practice Rules, arguably some of the most protective and restrictive forest practices in the world. By state statute Jackson is a demonstration forest where harvesting practices are studied to determine sustainability and the impacts on the environment. I’ve been in the forest products industry for nearly 50 years and I’ve seen some truly ugly things, shameful things. But I’m calling bullshit on the majority of protesters at Jackson. They don’t have a clue about ecology or forest science. Nor do they know where their forest products come from, and could frankly care less. The forest is their own personal nature park. Mostly they are hypocrites who live elitist lives compared to the rest of the world. At this moment hundreds of thousands of people in Africa are starving to death. From a ethical standpoint whose concern is more valid, yours or theirs?
Sucks to say fire is exactly what they are encouraging and seem to want. What better way to clear the forest of unprofitable trees then to burn them out.
I’m fed up with internet trolls who anonymously claim to have expertise, while rudely disparaging others. Fed Up, I don’t know how you’ve come to the conclusion that the protesters drive Teslas or that they are elites. I’ve been by the parked cars of the protesters several times and haven’t seen a single Tesla. However, one couple who supports Cal Fire’s management of this forest drive a Tesla. This Tesla driving couple are definitely not elites. They have worked hard to better their community. I don’t agree with their support of Cal Fire on this issue, but they are good people and your assertion that driving a Tesla makes them otherwise, only demonstrates your ignorance.
Fed Up, who are you and what are your credentials to support your claimed expertise in this matter. You anonymously make the vague reference to having “been in the forest products industry for nearly 50 years.” You go on to say that in that time you have “seen some truly ugly things, shameful things.” At the same, time you suggest that logging practices in California, regulated by the Z’Borg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973, does a great job of protecting our forests. This act has covered the same time period where you witnessed the ugly and shameful things, so that demonstrates the deficiencies of current regulations and the need for an update to outdated forestry practices, to meet the current times and knowledge.
One can easily see the deficiencies of Cal Fire’s management by venturing out on Road 409, to near the intersection of Road 408. There, one can see for themselves, the results of a timber harvest a few years ago. Alternatively, you can visit the Mendocino Trail Stewards (MTS) website and see photos of this decimated area, which definitely has not improved forest health or reduced fire risk, but instead, quite the opposite.
I encourage everyone to become interested in this issue. Visit the MTS website and critically examine the information they provide. Read the studies they reference, regarding current scientific evidence for best forest management practices, specifically in a redwood forest, such as JDSF. Decide for yourself whether the harvesting of large, fire resistant redwoods from the JDSF actually benefits the health of the forest, it’s inhabitants, or our citizens. Additionally, does this actually reduce or enhance fire risk? I submit that this is a publicly owned forest that should be managed for the greater public good, not by directives to sell trees to commercial interests. I suggest a new paradigm, where Cal Fire is enlisted to maximize forest health and recreational opportunities in the JDSF, only removing trees that accomplish this goal.
Ok, I admit the Tesla comment was sarcastic. For your information, the ugly logging incidents I witnessed were not in California. The worst I saw were in Utah and Washington state. My problem with emotional protesters is that most of them know nothing about forestry regulations and (as I previously mentioned) don’t have a clue where the forestry products they use come from, or what manner of logging was utilized. Therefore they are partly responsible for those practices. Yes, I posted anonymously. Bad on me. If I was retired I’d use my real name. If I was retired I would challenge you to a forestry science and forest ecology knowledge contest. The loser pays the winner $10,000.00. I would be significantly confident of the outcome.
The housing crisis is extreme. And so is the fire danger. Mindfully cutting down trees helps with both issues.
If you really want to help the environment practice celibacy or use birth control. Because it is overpopulation that is killing the planet.
Yes, that!!!
Why is it man thinks he own it all. This Land belongs to Earth, people should be honored to have land to live on. It was took away from the first people who were here before the European people invaded this land. Indians call this land sacred. We take care of the land. We’aren’t pumping oil out of this Land.. We are not overcrowded on our reservations. Because why…who knows. Leave our Forests Alone. Foreigners are buying our land to build on. We don’t need anymore buildings going up. It has to Stop. We need our Oxygen. Don’t these want to breathe. Think about it. Do we want to live in the world 🌎of the Terminator??????? I don’t I don’t want my grandkids too li e I that kind of world.
Communists. Neo-liberal Marxists. Same old boring (Saul Alinski) playbook. Demonize and silence with violence. There’s nothing new here. These are Sociology and Anthropology majors living on public assistance and NGO protest payments. Sad.
If y’all are looking to the past for legalities and regulations y’all are missing the point. Look where we are headed. Many things must change. Many old ways must stop. Obviously something is not right or is human made climate change a figment of my imagination? There are times I have my head up my own ass, but at least I can admit it. If you really think that cal fire is improving the forest, then let’s invite more companies like Mendocino forest products to help. Pretty soon the beautiful landscape of dead trees with the air full of fumes from hack and squirt, will humble the best of us before the heat and smoke of the fires snuff out the sun and in turn the rest of all things green growing and true.
The judicial system and laws and past “acts” we are governed by are horse shit. Can’t keep making decisions based on greed and gluttony. I invite you to take a hike with me into the forest. We both come out. We both probably will have more questions, changed opinions, and if human at all, a sense of loss and sadness, and guilt. Possibly enlightenment. Possibly hate.
It would be nice if cal fire could demonstrate the benefits to the earth they are doing. Not just to the “Mans” pocket.
P.s. I have yet to see any growth of …. well much of anything…. in areas poisoned to kill off unprofitable trees.