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The Campaign to Restore Jackson State Redwood
Forest began operations in March of 2000.
Recent Accomplishments:
please see our summary of news
developments.
Third Year Accomplishments (to
November 2002)
On March 20, 2002, the state agreed to halt all logging in Jackson
State Forest until a new management plan and Environmental Impact
Report (EIR) are approved. This is a complete legal victory for the
Campaign. Without this lawsuit, the state would still be logging
Jackson State under the long-outdated 1983 Management Plan.
The resolution, initiated by local timber mills and logging
companies, provided the Campaign with an opportunity to show the
politicians of Mendocino County that Jackson State Forest could no
longer be quietly turned over to timber interests. More than 500
letters in opposition were sent to the county supervisors, and
sixty-five people, most of which had to take a full afternoon off from
work, attended the meeting on March 12. Although the final resolution
did endorse continued logging, the supervisors also for the first time
recognized that recreation and wildlife should be given balanced
consideration.
- Initiated a major public debate in local newspapers
The Campaign’s opposition to the timber-sponsored county resolution
spawned a major debate over the future of Jackson State in local
newspapers. Almost every issue of the papers since Spring has contained
an opinion article or one or more letters on Jackson State. Two years
ago, most people on the Mendocino Coast knew nothing about Jackson
State. Now almost everyone does, and the more people that know, the
stronger grows support for restoration of Jackson State.
In June, CDF released the draft management plan and Environmental
Impact Report (EIR) for Jackson State Forest. The Campaign worked
closely with Forests Forever and the Sierra Club to encourage both
experts and the general public to make comments on the plan.
A total of 4800 public comments were submitted supporting restoration
and opposing the clearcut-heavy CDF Plan. Less than
50 comments supported the plan. More than 300 multi-page
comments from government agencies and private experts documented
deficiencies in the EIR. In contrast, not a single public
comment was received on the previous, 1983 management plan.
Filed a new lawsuit
when CDF ignored all public opinion and expert comment
In September, CDF approved the EIR and issued a final management
plan virtually unchanged. The Campaign and Forests Forever filed a
lawsuit in October challenging the EIR. The suit asserts that the EIR
failed to meet numerous requirements of the California Environmental
Quality Act (CEQA).
We are confident that the court will uphold our suit, forcing
significant revisions in the EIR. Without a legally valid EIR, the new
management plan cannot be legally approved.
CDF rebuked by the Board of
Forestry
The Campaign and its allies continued their battle against the
Jackson State management plan at the Board of Forestry, the appointed
board that oversees CDF. Although the Board approved the Jackson
Demonstration State Forest management plan on November 6, conditions
placed on the approval were a strong rebuke to the California
Department of Forestry.
- Multiplied our ability to deliver public expression to the state
We increased our active membership from 1800 to 3200 and expanded
our cooperative efforts with Forests Forever, a San Francisco based
organization that helped put Headwaters into the public eye. Our
combined efforts generated 4800 comments to CDF on the EIR and 2200
letters to the Board of Forestry opposing approval of the CDF
management plan.
Second Year Accomplishments (2001)
In 2001 we had success in court, grew 225%
in membership, released sensitive CDF documents to the public, and more…
In issuing the injunction Judge Henderson of the Superior Court of
Mendocino County fully supported the Campaign’s contention that further
logging under the outdated 1983 Management Plan was illegal and
threatened substantial, irreparable environmental harm. The injunction
continued for a second year an effective moratorium on new logging
sales in Jackson State. Last year the initial filing of our lawsuit
deterred the California Department of Forestry (CDF) from
filing any new timber harvest plans. In
response to the injunction, CDF released a draft management plan for
Jackson State. The necessary Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the
plan has still not been released as of this writing (March 2002).
NEWS FLASH UPDATE: March 20, 2002. Lawsuit settled – state agrees to
halt all logging in Jackson State Forest until a new management plan
and Environmental Impact Report (EIR) are approved. This is a complete
legal victory for the Campaign.
Expanded Campaign Outreach
The Campaign grew its active membership from 600 to 1500+, created
and distributed a regular newsletter, published articles in newspapers
and in newsletters of other organizations, conducted a Town Hall
Meeting on the draft management plan, conducted monthly hikes through
the forest, enlisted the support of 57 businesses, made direct mailings
to 1,350 members, and created a library of hiking maps and information
concerning the forest.
- Expanded the Campaign’s website, www.jacksonforest.org
The Campaign developed its website into a major repository of
information on Jackson State and Campaign activities. The site contains
comprehensive information on the Campaign’s lawsuit, CDF logging
operations and plans, the history of JSF, recreation opportunities, and
the case for restoring the forest.
Documentation was published in local newspapers, Campaign Update,
and the newsletters of collaborating organizations. These documents
show that CDF harvested timber beyond the legal maximum, failed to
validate the inventory measurements on which harvests are based, and
denied internal requests in 1994 for more resources to update the 1983
management plan.
Starting in September 2000, the 70 employees of Forests Forever made
restoration of Jackson State Forest to old growth the sole focus of
their door-to-door and telephone outreach efforts throughout the Bay
Area and beyond.
First Year Accomplishments (2000)
Our lawsuit, filed in June, deterred CDF from
initiating any new logging operations in 2000. In the prior four years,
137 million board feet of trees were cut from this public
forest.
CDF has been able to log Jackson Forest with
impunity for fifty years because "Jackson State is the forest no one
knows." To dispel public ignorance, the Campaign:
- Led public hikes in Brandon Gulch, Mitchell
Creek, and East Caspar.
- Generated articles and letters in local
newspapers, EcoNews, the Sierra Club Bulletin, and Mendocino
Environmental Center newsletter.
- Appeared on radio station KZYX and produced
public service announcements broadcast on another
local station.
- Opened a storefront office in Fort Bragg.
- Participated in the Americorp Watershed
Festival and in Active-Fest.
- Created a website: http://www.jacksonforest.com
- Organized and Represented the Public
The Campaign let CDF and our state legislators
know that the public wants Jackson Forest to benefit the public, not
the timber industry:
- Published full-page ads in the Fort Bragg
Advocate-News and Mendocino Beacon signed by more than 560
people.
- Expressed public desires at the Fort Bragg CDF
scoping session for the draft new management plan.
- Participated in the Board of Forestry tour of
Jackson Forest and the subsequent Board meeting in Ukiah.
- Toured the forest with Assemblymember Virginia
Strom-Martin.
- Helped organize neighbors to oppose planned
logging in two Forest areas used for recreation.
- Met with top CDF personnel in Sacramento to
initiate a dialogue.
The most powerful lever for change is a fully
articulated vision of a restored old-growth Jackson Forest and the
public benefits that will flow from it. To help develop this vision,
the Campaign hosted a two-day conference on The Restoration of Coastal
Redwood Forests: Jackson State Demonstration Forest.
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