David King is a Mendocino landowner, cannabis grower, and living soil expert with a unique perspective on environmental stewardship. We are excited to offer his thoughts on a variety of ecological topics affecting the Mendocino County:
I went to a very insightful gathering regarding coastal forests. This was generously hosted by the Stanford Inn. It was a full house and there was a waiting list for open seats. Author Greg King did a wonderful presentation about the history of the logging industry, which he covered in his new book, “The Ghost Forest”. There was another speaker John O’Brien, Ph.D, a climate scientist & research affiliate in the Climate & Ecosystem Sciences Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Mr. O’Brien gave a very insightful presentation.
I own timberland that was constantly harvested since the late 1800s. I have given it 20 years to rest and have no plans on harvesting it. According to my actions, I am in full agreement with both speakers to just let the forest sit and they will mend themselves. While my actions say one thing, I have deep concerns that I may be doing the wrong thing. My concerns come from my work as a Living Soil consultant. One aspect of my work is to perform qualitative analysis on soil microbiology. My clients are primarily organic. They hire me when symptomatic farming practices fail them. I assist them on their journey to foundation soil and plant health.
One of nature’s foundational principles is the presence of pests, pathogens, and disease is not the cause of a plant’s poor health, it is the symptom of a plant that was already unhealthy. The microbiology I and other consultants are observing is causing us great concern. I am seeing pathogen levels, oomycetes, that are on par with failing farms. I am hearing that Sudden Oak Death, Phytophthora which is an Oomycetes, is now affecting our Redwoods in Mendocino. I am also seeing substantially more rot up the center of redwood trees than I have seen had seen 30 years ago. I am hearing of beetle infestations down south having a serious impact on our forests. The oomycetes are the least of my concerns. It is the total levels of nutrient fixing and nutrient cycling microbiology and their ratios that concern me. I am afraid that our soil is dying and letting them sit on their own is not enough. This pest and pathogen pressure is nature’s way of removing plants that do not belong in their environment. We have substantially more trees on each acre of land while at the same time, we have substantially less water and nutrient cycling. Settlers’ accounts of the valley I am in, talk about the clover being 3 feet high and up to 6 feet in some locations. The little stream adjacent to me is only 3 ft wide but had salmon running strong all the way up to the 1980s. Two hundred years ago it was noted that flocks of birds used to block out the sun due to their numbers. Our lands are losing tons of pounds of migratory nutrients due to our lack of insects and animal migration. While all this is going on we are seeing signs that the climate we are in is not the same as the climate our forests originated in. With the climate, nutrients, microbiology, and water in disarray can we make judgments on future methods of management based on native forest models that do not exist today.
An example would be the new management tool of burning. We often state the natives did it so it must be ok. The natives did not burn land that resembles today’s land and climate. If the principle is to remove fuel load, then the method of burning is very easy and cost-effective. So yes, the method of burning suits the principle of reduced fire load. I feel we should be clear that this may not be the correct method If the principle is to protect the forest ecology. We must study this further.
One of the reasons we have such a heavy fuel load in healthy-looking forests is the inability of the soil microbiology to decompose the material. The deal with microbiology is it is the most effective when it is working in symbiosis with diverse soil microbiology. Our current forest management and residential practices are decimating the quantity and diversity of our soil microbiology. To be clear I am not saying do not burn. I am saying forest management and residential plans that do not take into consideration the soil is a failed model. Tell me where the soil ends, and the Redwood tree begins. I assure you that they are not separate.
When it comes to residential in and against the forest, I see great opportunities and I have serious concerns. My first concern is the removal of diversity by people removing vegetation. This is a terrible affliction on the ecosystem. We are finding that trees associate with other trees and plants for their mutual benefit, a little of this is covered in “The Redwood Microbiome: Microbial community composition and functional consequences of plant-microbe interactions for the tallest species on Earth”
The issues we have are not unique to the redwoods. We are seeing the same problems from around the world where a pathogen is killing 2000-year-old trees. We are finding that the transitional land next to the forest is essential in keeping the pathogens in check. This is where we come in as residents. We need to make our soil functional so that when we bring in nursery stock or pathogens from tires and shoes our soil can deal with them accordingly. Some of this is covered in a great video entitled “FEMS Microbiology Ecology Webinar on Ecology of Soil Microorganisms”. The primary researcher behind the video, Amanda Black of New Zealand’s Lincoln University, reveals significant shifts in the soil microbial communities surrounding remnant kauri fragments, including the loss of microbial taxa with functions in disease suppression and plant health. Kauri dieback disease, caused by Phytophthora agathidicida, currently threatens the kauri forest ecosystem. Results from this research highlight the need for further investigations into how changes to soil microbial diversity surrounding remnant kauri fragments impact tree health and disease expression’.
We are seeing incredible results in agriculture with regenerative practices. Individual agronomists manage millions of acres. The world’s largest companies like Dole, 6+ billion in sales, are seeing increased profits and are switching over.
In agriculture, we are in a paradigm shift. The conventional agriculture model is a failed model. The farmers are on welfare, where 44% of their net is subsidies. It has destroyed our soil, ground, and surface water and our citizens are starving for nutrition, they just can’t eat enough to satisfy their nutrient needs. Disease is at an all-time high. We spend under 900 billion on our military, but our citizens also spend over 3 trillion on health care.
California is working on a bold new paradigm based on farming practices from the past, before the petroleum salt model and destructive soil practices. This is funded by the Governor’s 30/30 executive order which has a solid plan.
As it stands today it seems it is up to us citizens to take the lead in saving our forests. I cannot seem to find any signs of forest biodiversity management in the works even though the word forest is mentioned in the plans 13 times.
As I stated, I agree with the presenters that the best current model is to just leave the forest alone. I am concerned that we have hit a tipping point and leaving the forest alone will not be sufficient. This issue covers different kinds of forests in our state, and we are seeing the same problems all over the world. This is not a freak rare occurrence. I can turn farm soil around quickly, but I have yet to try and turn around forest microbiomes.
Interesting facts and ideas about forest health and its food sources. More questions to be further researched. Nature is more dynamic than we will ever know!
While the concepts of controlled burns and fire ecosystems are becoming popular in NorCal there are other places that have been researching and promoting these concepts for generations. https://talltimbers.org
That is a great resource. I hope they have biological monitoring and managment plans for timberland owner / operators.