The Final Chapter
In 2000, the Campaign to Restore Jackson State Redwood Forest (the Campaign) filed suit to halt logging in Jackson State Forest. Over the next eight years, legal actions or the threat of legal actions compelled the Department of Forestry (formerly abbreviated as CDF, now CalFire) to refrain from any logging and to develop a new management plan and accompanying environmental documents. Finally, in January of 2008, a new management plan for Jackson State Forest was approved, with the support of the Campaign. (read more)


Pacific Lumber is Out of the Picture
A glimmer of hope graces the Redwood coast this summer as decades of wrangling between environmental activists and Pacific Lumber Company (PL) over their liquidation logging has finally passed. Twenty-three years after corporate bandit Charles Hurwitz's Maxxam took over Pacific Lumber, the company spiraled into a complex bankruptcy process that has resulted in the Mendocino Redwood Company (MendoRC) reorganizing the company and operating the mill. In the final weeks of PL's existence, the Environmental Protection Information Center's (EPIC) decade-long legal battle challenging permits issued after the Headwaters Deal also reached a climax, in a unanimous California Supreme Court case affirming environmental positions on two of the central legal issues the case presented. (read more)


Klamath National Forest Cancels Post-fire Timber Sales
Following the 2007 summer fires, at the behest of the timber industry, the Forest Service immediately started planning "salvage" old-growth timber sales on steep slopes located above salmon-bearing streams in northern California. Klamath-Siskyou WIldlands Center (KS Wild) spent many hours in the field reading reports and communicating scientific proof to the Forest Service that post-fire logging is more harmful than helpful. We are happy to report that the Klamath and Shasta-Trinity National Forests announced in early July that they are canceling three post-fire timber sales, two near Happy Camp and one near McCloud, respectively. We hope that this decision is an indication of the growing awareness of the ecological role that fire, and big trees, play in forest ecosystems. (read more)


Klamath National Forest Salvage Logging Scam
The Happy Camp Ranger District of the Klamath National Forest boasts some of the most spectacular backcountry recreation on Earth. Located along the Klamath River in between the renowned and the lesser-known but equally impressive High Siskiyou Wilderness, Happy Camp more than lives up to its name. (read more)


The nations largest homebuilder says, "The housing market sucks." But what's that got to do with the environment?
For people considering how to minimize development, keep forestland in sustainable production, and maintain respect for conservation values in the forest landscape, the current housing market crisis is a wake-up call. There is also a great deal of discussion aboout Pacific Lumber (PL) Company's bankruptcy proceedings, yet there is little mention of the economic context in which the bankruptcy is taking place. We (read more)


Klamath-Siskyou Wildlands Center
The Klamath National Forest is developing a plan to log the south side of the Mt. Ashland Old-Growth Reserve near the Long John and Grouse Creek portions of the Beaver Creek Watershed. Much of the forest targeted for logging was previously logged at the turn of the century by the Fruit Growers Supply Company of Hilt, California. Where there were once old-growth pine forests, now there are dense second-growth true fir stands. (read more)


EPIC's National Forest Program Racks Up Victories
Need a little good news this dreary season? EPIC's national forest program has been part of a few heartening victories in recent months, halting some needlessly destructive projects on our public lands. (read more)


Protecting Forests In The Shasta-Trinity Watersheds
The Conservation Congress formed in February 2004 to specifically focus forest watch activities on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest in northern California. We targeted the Shasta-Trinity because it seems to receive less public scrutiny than some of the other National Forests in the region. Our Forest Monitoring Program on the "Shasta T" includes commenting on timber sales, road construction, hazardous fuel reduction, and wildlife habitat improvement projects. We expect to see an increase in logging on this forest due to the recent gutting of the Northwest Forest Plan. (read more)


North Coast Earth First!: Aradia Tree-Sit Comes To An
On September 25th, 2004, the Aradia Grove on Gypsy Mountain was raided by Maxxam Corp./Pacific Lumber Co. Three activists were forcibly removed by the contract extraction team (led by Eric Schatz), and the Aradia tree, along with the surrounding pristine grove, was clearcut. (read more)


North Coast Earth First!
This summer has seen constant vigilance in the treetops, with several ongoing sits in the Freshwater and "Gypsy Mountain"/Van Duzen River watersheds. Tree-sitters in the "Jerry," "Everstine/Diversity," "Anastasia," and "Presidia" trees, all in Freshwater, and "Aradia," on Gypsy Mountain, have continually occupied the canopies of these old-growth redwood trees, doing everything in their power to save these ancient wonders. (read more)


Institute for Sustainable Forestry

As the July sun warms the soil that sustains our gardens, the gardener?s challenge is to keep young plants watered even as new seeds go into prepared ground. As Institute for Sustainable Forestry (ISF) staff completes a series of community-based workshops and walks in the woods, the image of watering comes to mind: returning to water our community?s interest and commitment to sustainable forestry. At the same time, the ISF/SmartWood? team extends its reach throughout our region and the state, sowing new seed, while continuing to check the vigor of recent sprouts. (read more)


The Alliance for Sustainable Jobs and the Environment: Cementing the Alliance

Julia Butterfly Hill and Steelworkers at the Houston Maxxam Shareholders rally and meeting this spring. Photo: Dana Stolzman

The evolving Alliance for Sustainable Jobs & the Environment held its first annual membership meeting April 1-2 in Portland, Oregon, where a board of directors was elected to replace the Coordinating Committee that led the organization since the founding meeting last year. The board is comprised of six members from the environmental caucus: Tracy Katelman, Chris Preucil, Susan Heitker, Karen Coulter, Chuck Willer, and Mick Garvin; and six from the labor caucus: Don Kegley, Tara Widner, John Goodman, Erle Ingram, Ted Thomas, and Wes Brain. The officers are: Co-Chairs, Tracy Katelman and Don Kegley; President, Chuck Willer; and Secretary-Treasurer, Erle Ingram. (read more)


Plight of the Redwoods Campaign
Plight of the Redwoods Campaign (PRC) was conceived in November 1998 and hit the road in December of that year. Redwood Mary took a leave from her studies at the College of the Redwoods, gave up her home, put her belongings in storage and took the PRC Tour to both national and international venues in partnership with Julia Butterfly Hill (via cell phone) from her historic tree occupation of Luna. In August 1999, Nate Madsen joined the campaign, calling in from his occupation of Mariah in the Freshwater area near Eureka. The PRC has assisted in bringing more visibility to Nate Madsen?s non-violent action. (read more)