Key challenges loom in stormy 2017 ahead!
What appears before us in 2017?
Forests Forever will be spearheading a push to break up CalFIRE—the state agency in charge of both firefighting and logging regulation and oversight. Only by separating these two largely conflicting missions can both functions be served efficiently and well.
The first draft of California's much-anticipated Forest Carbon Plan is due out next month. We will be a key player in the effort to educate and engage the public in properly crafting this document. The plan is aimed at bringing carbon sequestration and emissions resulting from California's timber practices into sync with the goals of the state's landmark greenhouse gas emissions laws.
As mentioned earlier, the first pilot project rolled out in the wake of A.B. 1492, located in the Campbell Creek watershed. It should lay the groundwork for making consistent and efficient the organization and use of data on forest soils, water, air, and wildlife.
Further work alongside our friends in the new California Oaks Coalition probably will bring us into contact with new allies in other parts of the state where local efforts to save oak woodlands are coming into sharp relief.
And as discussed, all three local ballot measures begun in 2016, in Mendocino and Napa counties, and in the City of Richmond, should advance or culminate.