The Disquiet Report: Missives and Musings from Chad Swimmer
Keeping Timber Harvests Out of Jackson State Forest
Over the last three years, coordinated community action has successfully stopped a number of timber harvest plans (THPs) in Jackson—California’s largest state forest. Two of the blocked THPs had been submitted, one was approved and sold to a mill, and others were under development. The total area saved by the work of the Coalition to…
Read MoreAn Ecosystem of The Mind
For the record, I continue to investigate this lifelong obsession: forest, forests, but in particular, this forest outside my backdoor, this sister-city to the foggy, mossy, disorderly ecosystem of my mind. Jackson—I must use the name, not because I like it or approve of it, but because we haven’t agreed on a better name. English—I…
Read MoreBroken Treaties & Broken Promises
Fresh Assaults On Jackson State Forest Belie Official Statements of Intent to Cooperate With the Public’s Wishes “California Native peoples have not forgotten the true history of the State of California, and we hope that our reexamination of the historical record is the first of many steps towards restoring the balance between California Indigenous people…
Read MorePublic Records Requests and the Maintenance of Democracy
A Jackson Demonstration State Forest Case Study Implicit in a democratic process is the notion that government should be accountable for its actions. In order to verify accountability, individuals must have access to government files. Such access permits checks against the arbitrary exercise of official power and secrecy in the political process. (California Supreme Court:…
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