If you care about how logging in Jackson Forest will affect you as a neighbor or recreation user, don’t miss the meeting this Saturday, December 6, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon at Jackson Demonstration State Forest Headquarters, 802 North Main Street.
For nearly nine years there has been no logging in Jackson Forest, and for even longer no logging plans have occurred near the residential areas of Fort Bragg and Mendocino. That is about to change. Whether this change works out for the better or the worse is up to the community.
The first logging plan on the west side of Jackson State Forest is scheduled for the Hare Creek watershed to the east of the end of Simpson Lane (map). The Timber Harvest Plan (THP) adjoins private land along its entire western boundary. Within the plan are a number of forest roads used for hiking, biking, and horse riding. They are also used illegally by off road vehicles (ORVs).
The harvest area is located primarily between the western boundary of JDSF and Roads 450 and 454. Recreation use in the THP area and on Roads 450, 454, and 400 will be affected.
Other timber harvests in Jackson Forest near Fort Bragg and Mendocino are in the planning process. (map shows the Hare Creek plan, "J,H,I,J,K", and other pending harvest plans).
People who live further west on Simpson Lane or to the north on Highway 20 may recall another Hare Creek Jackson Forest timber plan in 2000 that paid no attention to the use of the plan area by local residents for recreation. Many trails and destinations were made unusable or not worth using.
This does not have to happen again. The new management plan for Jackson Demonstration State Forest (JDSF) mandates that recreation shall be an important value in the forest. The staff of JDSF is serious about fulfilling this mandate, and the independent Jackson Advisory Group (JAG) is equally determined to see that recreation is a priority.
This Saturday at 10:00 a.m., the Recreation Committee of the JAG will hold a public meeting to consider how recreation and neighbor concerns and the desires of the community should be incorporated in planning for the Hare Creek timber harvest. The meeting will be held at JDSF headquarters at 408 North Main St., Fort Bragg. JDSF staff will show detailed maps and explain the expected operations of the plan. Recreation Committee members will lead an open discussion about protecting and expanding current legal recreation opportunities. Problems of illegal ORV use will also be discussed, with the emphasis on finding constructive, win-win solutions.
Hare Creek is only the first of a number of harvest plans on the west side that are in the works. As the first, it provides an opportunity to set a model precedent for integrating recreation and neighborhood desires into harvest planning and operations. An accompanying article in the newspaper provides more details on the harvest plan, the upcoming meeting, and a tour of the harvest area following the meeting.
I and many others have worked for almost nine years to safeguard Jackson Forest for our community and the public at large. Our work has created a great opportunity for a new way of managing Jackson Forest. Now it is up to you and your friends. This is the time to step forward to work with the staff of Jackson Forest. Otherwise, the opportunity will be lost.
More information is at www.jacksonforest.org.
[This is an expanded version of the article appearing in the December 6, 2008 editions of the Fort Bragg Advocate and Mendocino Beacon.]
4 responses so far ↓
1 Chris Clutton // Dec 8, 2008 at 8:41 am
Cyclists use an old road in the plan as a connector trail between Rd 510 and Rd 450 that is to be used, in part, as a haul road in the plan. This haul road may be a better connector than the existing rutted trail.
An access road exists from the end of Simpson Ln to Rd 510 bordering this plan. I have been told this is a private road and the owner doses not allow recreational access. If an agreement could be made with the property owner opening this road would improve access to the Forest.
Alternative routs that could be used during logging are east-west on Rd 500 and north-south on County Rd 408.
In my opinion recreational access will be very similar to what we have now after this timber harvest plan is completed.
Chris Clutton
2 jimmysmith // Dec 22, 2008 at 3:03 pm
I think it is a travesty to allow logging to return to Jackson Forest. This only serves to show the corruption within our administration. The people currently in charge of managing Jackson Forest are making the same mistakes that were made by their predecessors. They seem to believe that we have to have big logging plans to have a healthy economy, and I disagree. I would like to see the logging ban continued for Jackson Forest. And, I would like to see the people currently managing Jackson Forest replaced, or redirected, to develop a long-term management plan for the forest that would help us fight global warming and environmental crises. The current management is not concerned with fire defense for Jackson Forest, either. Thus, they seem to be intent on making a big mistake. They seem to be happy with the same old slash and burn we have seen in the past, and this is too damaging to the environment. Why can’t we get bettter administration and management? They are trying to force us to accept a plan that is very bad for Jackson State Forest in some ways, and is unenlightened in other ways, for not following up on some of the very good ideas for modern forest management, like the development of additional forest resources. Once again, they seem to be too concerned with logging, and forcing that down our throats, and are not developing some of the other ideas that are being directed for them to develop, like education, research, recreation and restoration.
3 Jerry Slack // Feb 24, 2009 at 1:03 am
The Government needs to get the BLANK out of the logging business. Public lands are for benefit of the public–all of us. And, we get the most benefit (best, highest use) of these lands if we protect them, not ‘harvest’ (ie., destroy) their precious life-sustaining resources for the sake of industry. Our forest lands do not have to earn their keep–they do so 24/7 by just by being, just by doing what they do. And, you are not going to log (nor drill, nor mine) us out of this recession. Paper and stick-frame building that rely on forest products are obsolete in a life-affirming 21st century; the powers that be just don’t seem to know it, yet. Natural Resource Management can no longer mean what it meant nearly a century ago. And, even then, people like John Muir recognized the “universe” that is attached to everything that is pulled up. Look around, O’ civil servants, and see the frightened people who are frightened by the people (YOU!) who are scorching the earth.
4 Paul Ederer // Mar 25, 2009 at 1:53 pm
So if we don’t harvest wood to build houses what are we going to use? Paper and stick construction has been shown to be the greenest form of construction. The forest is the ultimate solar factory. Its easy to say NO LOGGING but what are the alternatives? Where is the infrastructure for alternative means? All human activities use energy , its up to us to use the most efficient renewable sources. Concrete and iron mines don’t regenerate whereas a forest will. The wood will come from somewhere and as residents of a highly regulated state it is immoral of us to transfer our desires for resources elsewhere. Is it justifiable to preserve our forests at the cost of species extinction elsewhere.