logging

Controversial Jenner logging plan withdrawn after more than a year of review

Emma Murphy, PRESS DEMOCRAT

A Sonoma County family’s logging plan for more than 1,000 acres of forest near the mouth of the Russian River has been withdrawn amid opposition from nearby community members and heavy state scrutiny.

The plan, initially proposed by landowner Bruce Berry in early 2025, encountered sharp pushback from local residents and environmental groups worried about the impact timber harvesting could have on a watershed that supports imperiled salmon runs and supplies drinking water for the village of Jenner.

On June 6, following numerous rounds of plan reviews with input from multiple state and regional agencies, as well as a significant pile of public comment letters, Berry withdrew his proposal for a nonindustrial timber management plan.

Read more at https://www.pressdemocrat.com/2026/06/18/sonoma-coast-jenner-logging-plan-withrdrawn/

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California tribes could help oversee ancestral redwoods again

Lila Seidman, PRESS DEMOCRAT

Daniel Felix, 10, looks out from atop a gargantuan stump of an old-growth redwood on his tribe’s ancestral land. Once, this forest on California’s North Coast was replete with the ancient behemoths that can live beyond 2,000 years.

Only a fraction are left now, depleted by a logging company before the state acquired the forest in the 1940s.

This is unique public land, Jackson Demonstration State Forest, spanning 50,000 acres in Mendocino County. Trees are plentiful here, but they might not live a millennium. California’s 14 demonstration forests are required to produce and sell timber to show — or “demonstrate” — sustainable practices. Money from logging — roughly $8.5 million a year — pays for management of the forests by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire.

Daniel’s tribe, the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians, has pushed to rein in the cutting — spearheaded by his late great-grandmother, Priscilla Hunter. They’re part of a diverse coalition that includes environmental activists, local politicians and other tribes.

Now they may finally get their wish. Assembly member Chris Rogers, D-Santa Rosa, has introduced a bill that would nix the forests’ logging mandate, instead prioritizing values such as carbon storage, wildfire resilience and biodiversity.

Read more at https://www.pressdemocrat.com/2026/05/12/after-exile-california-tribes-could-help-oversee-ancestral-redwoods-again-2/

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Op-Ed: Fixing Forests

Teri Shore, PACIFIC SUN

I just visited the redwood country and wilderness forests that stretch from the cool coastal range to snow-topped alpine ridges in the interior mountains in Northern California. Hiking through groves of redwoods adorned with bouquets of trillium and along clear rivers ringing with birdsong from tiny hidden warblers, I felt at times like I was in paradise.

But then I’d come upon massive redwood stumps that were cut generations ago still standing. Heading into the famed Headwaters Preserve, the newer growth didn’t hide the past devastation. The fragmented groves of ancient redwoods in the national parks often felt like tree museums. In fact, the Tall Trees Grove on Redwood Creek requires a permit for entry past a locked gate.

Heading into the Smith River, Scott River and Trinity Alps, I was taken by the rugged landscapes and powerful waters but overwhelmed by the miles of burned lands. Some places were recovering with green and wildflowers. Other expanses were spoiled by salvage logging where giant scorched logs were abandoned and massive slash piles left behind.

After seeing all this, I realized the urgency of halting the Fix our Forest Act moving toward passage in Congress. The bill authorizes more logging and less environmental protection in our forests and is key to the log-baby-log mantra coming from The White House.

We need our State Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff to oppose this bill and rally their colleagues to defeat it. If not, they will allow the beauty of our forests to be finally and forever turned into the beasts of industry.

Source: https://pacificsun.com/your-letters-may-21/

Forests,

Opponents likely headed to court to block newly approved timber operation between Guerneville and Monte Rio

Mary Callahan, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Cal Fire has approved plans for selective logging of redwood and Douglas fir trees on 224 acres above the lower Russian River between Guerneville and Monte Rio, raising the prospect of legal action by opponents who hope they still might prevent the Silver Estates harvest from going forward.

The state agency granted approval late last week after months of public scrutiny, plan revisions and state delays that critics say reflect the proposal’s fundamentally flawed nature.

But in a Nov. 17 letter, Eric Huff, staff chief of Cal Fire’s Forest Practice Program, said the final version — some 500 pages of reports, descriptions, maps and other information — conforms with state Forest Practice Rules. The decision authorizes landowner Roger Burch and his family to carry out its provisions any time over the next five years.

What happens next appears to depend in large part on whether Burch and his representatives decide to begin operations this winter, within the restrictions permitted for the traditional wet weather season.

Read more at https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/opponents-likely-headed-to-court-to-block-newly-approved-timber-operation-b/

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Critics of Jackson Forest logging to hold rally; warn of potential civil disobedience when logging resumes

Mary Callahan, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Community, environmental and tribal activists opposed to renewed logging in the Jackson Demonstration State Forest plan to rally in the forest Sunday and warn of potential civil disobedience in the future.

The notice comes in response to a Cal Fire announcement that tree cutting would resume as early as this week on at least one of four incomplete timber harvest plans in the Mendocino County forest. Those plans were recently revised to halt removal of the largest trees.

The return of logging crews ends an eight-month pause on tree removal that allowed state officials to start rethinking priorities for the nearly 50,000-acre forest and begin negotiations with local tribes that are seeking co-management rights.

But critics say it’s still too soon to end the pause. They argue that ideas floated in a “vision statement” released last week don’t amount to the updated forest management plan demanded by advocates and promised by Cal Fire.

Read more at https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/critics-of-jackson-forest-logging-to-hold-rally-warn-of-potential-civil-di/

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Logging to restart in Jackson Forest as soon as this week

Mary Callahan, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Just days after releasing a new vision statement reflecting a greater focus on climate mitigation and wildfire prevention at Jackson Demonstration State Forest, Cal Fire announced a nearly eight-month pause on logging in the forest will end.

Wednesday’s announcement came as a surprise to environmental advocates, including members of the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians who are in the middle of negotiating for co-management rights in the forest.

Four approved timber harvest plans in the state-owned forest were put on hold — one last year and the others over the winter — after public outcry over the removal of large redwood trees. Those plans are expected to recommence in phases before the end of the year, Cal Fire said.

Crews could begin cutting any day in the 737-acre Chamberlain Confluence harvest plan, where they already have spent recent weeks hauling downed logs that were cut and stacked last winter, State Demonstration Forest Manager Kevin Conway said.

Read more at https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/logging-to-restart-in-jackson-forest-as-soon-as-this-week/

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Cal Fire announces ‘new vision’ for Jackson Forest, reduces cutting of big trees

Mary Callahan, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Revitalizing Management of the Jackson Demonstration Forest (pdf)

Cal Fire has released what is says is a “new forward-looking vision” for Jackson Demonstration State Forest that reflects the realities of climate change and extreme wildfire risk.

And while it creates pathways for co-management with local tribal nations, future management of the nearly 50,000-acre state-owned forest will still likely include sustainable logging.

Cal Fire spokeswoman Christine McMorrow, resource management communications officer, described the vision statement as “a starting point” to guide development of a new forest management plan. It comes in the wake of a recent public outcry over commercial-scale logging, particularly near the coastal town of Caspar, where a timber harvest plan was brought to a halt by demonstrators in the woods last year.

Cal Fire and the California Natural Resources Agency, which oversees it, promise “a renewed focus on climate science, restoration ecology and a new model for tribal comanagement” in the future, the vision statement says.

Read more at https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/cal-fire-announces-new-vision-for-jackson-forest-reduces-cutting-of-big/

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