Logging temporarily halted in Jackson State Forest
The California
First District Court of Appeal has ordered a halt to logging in Jackson
State Forest until the court can review a lawsuit over the forest’s
management.
Forests Forever is now calling on you to help stop the chainsaws permanently.
If enough public pressure is put on state legislators– especially
those whose districts encompass Jackson– they will be moved to end
large-scale commercial logging in the forest.
Please write to Senator Wesley Chesbro (D-Arcata) and Assemblymember Patty
Berg (D-Sebastopol) and ask them to take immediate action to safeguard
Jackson. If you have additional time please send letters to your own state
senator and assemblymember asking them to urge Chesbro and Berg to pull
out all the stops to protect Jackson. For contact information and sample
letters, click here.
The Court of Appeal order to put Jackson logging on hold comes after a
lengthy legal battle over the California Department of Forestry’s
(CDF) management of the 50,000-acre Mendocino County forest. Most recently,
Forests Forever Foundation and ally The Campaign to Restore Jackson State
Redwood Forest sued CDF on the basis that the environmental analysis of
the forest’s management plan contains glaring deficiencies.
The two groups had hoped Mendocino County Superior Court Judge Richard
Henderson would grant their request for a preliminary injunction to delay
the logging until the lawsuit is resolved. Henderson denied the request
June 11. Logging began that day.
But on Tuesday, the Court of Appeal ordered a halt to the logging while
it considers whether to reverse Henderson’s decision regarding the
preliminary injunction. Between the start of the logging and the stop-work
order CDF was able to cut down, very roughly, two percent of the trees
slated for felling in the agency’s plans.
CDF is determined to carry out its plan to log 40 percent of Jackson–
a forest which if restored could return to conditions mirroring old growth.
If the Court of Appeal does not reverse Henderson’s ruling, logging
may start right back up.
Thank you for taking action to help ensure Jackson is preserved for the
future, not logged to pad CDF’s budget.
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