Forests Forever Press Release
For Immediate Release:
Monday, March 10, 2003
Contacts: Steve Hopcraft, 916/457-5546;
Paul Hughes, Andria Strickley, (415) 974-3636
State Refuses to Appoint Public Advisory Committee for Jackson State Forest
State needs formal feedback process
SACRAMENTO˜ Forests Forever Foundation, a nonprofit California forest
education group, today criticized the California Department of Forestry
(CDF) for failing to set up a system involving the public in decisions
regarding the state‚s largest publicly-owned forest. The State Board
of Forestry had mandated the agency to involve the public in overseeing
management of the forest˜ 50,000-acre Jackson State Forest in Mendocino
County.
As a condition of its approval of a controversial management plan for
Jackson, the board in November ordered CDF to establish a process for
actively involving the neighboring community in decisions regarding Jackson.
But at its March meeting last week the board decided not to establish
a formal public advisory committee.
"CDF wants no Community Advisory Committee blocking its path to large-scale
clear-cutting," said Paul Hughes, executive director of the foundation.
"The agency's failure to include a formal feedback mechanism for
local residents is one more step in its sorry history of ignoring and
locking out the public from decisions about our forest."
Officially named Jackson Demonstration State Forest, Jackson is located
between Ft. Bragg and Mendocino in Mendocino County. The forest is an
important source of 80-to 100-year-old second-growth redwood, which provides
critical habitat for species dependent on older, larger redwoods for survival.
On January 8, 2003, CDF revealed its plan to accelerate large-scale commercial
timber production in Jackson State. The agency‚s plan would make
heavy use of "even-age management" (commonly known as clear-cutting),
provide minimal protection for salmon streams, and include cutting of
some of the finest unprotected second-growth stands remaining in badly
cutover Mendocino County.
Gov. Gray Davis‚ state budget proposal for 2003-04 estimates the
state will cut $17.5 million worth of the taxpayers' trees˜ almost
entirely from Jackson˜ in the state forest system in the next 18
months. CDF has near-term plans to fell about 10,000 mature second-growth
redwood trees on just under 1000 acres in the pending Timber Harvesting
Plans at Jackson.
Experts have filed some 1000 pages detailing glaring deficiencies in the
Environmental Impact Report accompanying the Jackson management plan.
The tandem documents were released in November. Deficiencies include complete
absence of required cumulative impacts analysis, lack of comprehensive
botanical surveys, inadequate protection of endangered species, insufficient
presentation of data on timber, and errors in estimates of timber inventory,
growth and allowable harvest levels.
Forests Forever Foundation has sued CDF, asserting the EIR‚s shortcomings
violate clear guidelines of the California Environmental Quality Act.
"The State's logging plan threatens water quality and wildlife in
the forest," said Hughes. "The Department seems hell-bent on
pursuing its unwise logging plans. CDF has even included plans for felling
logs this winter. They want to turn on the money faucet as soon as possible,
regardless of the impacts on our forest."
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