Improve Protection and Management at Jackson Redwood Forest

WHEREAS the California Democratic Council State Convention in San Diego in 2004 passed a resolution in support of SB 1648 by State Senator Wesley Chesbro (D-Arcata) which would have changed the priorities at Jackson Demonstration State Forest to focus on restoring watersheds, protecting mature trees, and expanding recreational opportunities at our largest state forest, but Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed that Legislature-passed bill due to advice from his handlers from the old Wilson Administration as well as from the California Department of Forestry which manages the Jackson forest; and

WHEREAS the nearly 50,000 acre Jackson forest has only 1% of its old-growth forests remaining, but it does contain about 11,000 acres of mature forests where the trees generally range in age from 80 to 110 years, and these are quite substantial in comparison to the massive clearcut logging which preceded planting young conifer plantations on nearby corporate-owned timberlands in the region; and

WHEREAS the Jackson forest is the largest contiguous parcel of publicly-owned land in coastal Mendocino County and could serve as vital recovery habitat for old-growth forest dependent species such as the marbled murrelet, northern spotted owl, Coho salmon, steelhead trout, and some amphibians, and it could become a model for redwood ecosystem restoration and road decommissioning while expanding recreational opportunities on the forest;

BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the California Democratic Council, meeting in convention in Los Angeles on August 10-12, 2007, calls for the abandonment of Proposed Alternative C1 in relation to the Draft E.I.R for the Jackson Demonstration State Forest Management Plan -- which would allow massive logging of the mature trees at Jackson redwood forest, as well as clearcut an additional 29% of the forest, use toxic herbicides, log on steep unstable slopes, and build many new logging roads, while supporting a management alternative more protective than Alternate F which would help restore marbled murrelet and Coho salmon habitat; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the California Democratic Council shall send this resolution to gubernatorial candidates Phil Angelides and Steve Westly, to all Democratic members of the state legislature, to State Senate President Pro tem Don Perata, to Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, and to Special Assistant Tamminen, Chair Art Torres, and Mr. Bob Mulholland.