The following is a statement issued by the Mendocino Trail Stewards on their Facebook page:
The Mendocino Trail Stewards stand 100% in support of the right of young people to protect California’s publicly-owned forests from logging. We are proud that these politically-engaged youth and young adults are fighting for their–and all of our–future in the face of run-away climate change. These second growth redwood forests are our greatest ally in the fight to sequester carbon. We must protect them to safeguard our children’s future.
While we, as an organization seeking legislative change, can’t condone illegal actions, we would like to stress that the tree sits taking place now and the demonstrations that are planned for the coming days show clearly that the formal channels of public input on the management of JDSF are insufficient. We demand that Cal Fire Management, in coordination with the office of Mike McGuire, immediately implement:
The Mendocino Trail Stewards’ Three Point Proposal
In recognition of:
the dire climate emergency that we face;
the fact that logging is well understood to be one of the most substantial contributors to climate change of all the activities that humans engage in, and that, as a forest with a mandate to demonstrate sustainability, Cal Fire management must begin to take this into account in a substantive way;
the well-qualified, broad-based, long-standing opposition to Cal Fire’s management practices in Jackson Demonstration State Forest, specifically to its lack of adherence to many sound, research-based recommendations in its own 2016 Management Plan;
Cal Fire’s resistance to meaningful public input;
the fact that in overall economic terms these forests are worth more to the county standing than logged;
the mounting social tension in the surrounding areas that is presently coming to the fore with the initiation of logging this Spring/Summer in the Caspar, Big River, and Noyo Watersheds.
We, The Mendocino Trail Stewards, call for:
A one-year moratorium on logging in all of JDSF, this in order to facilitate:
A mediated public dialogue held in an atmosphere of good faith, without the disputed forests being cut in the meantime, with all stake-holders present, including but not limited to:
Interested members of the public
Native American tribes with historical roots in this forestland
User groups who wish to take part
Mills and Licensed Timber Operators
University-based researchers who have used this as an outdoor laboratory Cal Fire Management
The sourcing of grant and corporate funding for Cal-Fire to conduct the necessary conservation work of wildfire risk reduction, road decommissioning, watershed restoration, and the creation, improvement, and maintenance of infrastructures such as restrooms, trailheads, trails, signage, and campgrounds to support the unprecedented number of visitors the forest is experiencing now.
