FOREST FLASH December 2022
In Pacific Forest Trust’s e-newsletter, Forest Flash, we send you the most recent PFT news and updates on forests, clean water, climate, and wildlife. Subscribe here.
2022 Highlights: A Year of Growth and Impact!
Many are spending this month gathering around a festive tree, or simply spending more time with loved ones. It’s a great time of year to appreciate the gift of forests – those complex, interwoven ecosystems that sustain our lives and so much more. In honor of the season, we invite you to look back on some of 2022’s big moments for forests!
PFT Vice President Connie Best pictured with landowner partner Jud Parsons near his Mountcrest property.
Endangered species like this Sierra Nevada red fox depend on conserved wildlife corridors.
A key part of our work protecting the natural resources and climate benefits intrinsic to private forests is our stewardship of 35 conservation easements on more than 110,000 acres in California and Oregon. As our “boots on the ground,” PFT’s Conservation and Stewardship team often have the pleasure of working directly with our landowner partners. PFT partners are as unique as the lands they own, and they have made a public commitment to protect these lands in perpetuity.
The Mount Ashland Demonstration Forest
PFT Forester Jack Singer and partner Marty Main consult on Mount Ashland.
PFT was delighted to close on our purchase of the Mount Ashland Forest this year! The property, which provides a natural wildlife corridor for a number of threatened, vulnerable, and endangered species along Oregon’s Siskiyou Crest, will serve as a model for climate resilience under PFT’s careful management. We have already conserved over 11,000 acres of key lands within and around the Cascade Siskiyou National Monument. This acquisition will mark a continuation of our efforts to build a conserved corridor through the CSNM to the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest. Check out our website for more about the Mount Ashland Demonstration Forest project, or head to the August issue of Forest Flash to see what it took to survey and collect critical data in the Mount Ashland Forest.
This work was also featured in the US Nature4Climate article on the importance of conserving and managing forests for climate resilience. The article was part of USN4C’s “Building Ambition Through Action” campaign. Read it here.
Promoting good fire
A scene from a controlled fire. Credit: Bureau of Land Management
This year, PFT continued its work to establish successful coalitions for fire management focused on restoring good fire. This large coalition-building effort began in the wake of California’s 2017-2021 wildfires, when it became clear that many impacted communities were being left out of the conversation about fire management. Since then, we have worked to join a diverse group of voices including Tribes, environmental justice groups, public health advocates, ranchers, agricultural groups, and regional governmental entities to share knowledge and solutions. Earlier this year, PFT succeeded in securing funding in California’s budget for fire training centers that we hope will play a key role in restoring the large-scale use of beneficial fire. The budget dedicated $5 million to prescribed fire training around the state!
Endangered species like this Sierra Nevada red fox depend on conserved wildlife corridors.
A key part of our work protecting the natural resources and climate benefits intrinsic to private forests is our stewardship of 35 conservation easements on more than 110,000 acres in California and Oregon. As our “boots on the ground,” PFT’s Conservation and Stewardship team often have the pleasure of working directly with our landowner partners. PFT partners are as unique as the lands they own, and they have made a public commitment to protect these lands in perpetuity.
The Mount Ashland Demonstration Forest
Stewardship Forester Jack Singer and PFT partner Marty Main consult on Mount Ashland.
PFT was delighted to close on our purchase of the Mount Ashland Forest this year! The property, which provides a natural wildlife corridor for a number of threatened, vulnerable, and endangered species along Oregon’s Siskiyou Crest, will serve as a model for climate resilience under PFT’s careful management. We have already conserved over 11,000 acres of key lands within and around the Cascade Siskiyou National Monument. This acquisition will mark a continuation of our efforts to build a conserved corridor through the CSNM to the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest. Check out our website for more about the Mount Ashland Demonstration Forest project, or head to the August issue of Forest Flash to see what it took to survey and collect critical data in the Mount Ashland Forest.
This work was also featured in the US Nature4Climate article on the importance of conserving and managing forests for climate resilience. The article was part of USN4C’s “Building Ambition Through Action” campaign. Read it here.
Promoting good fire
A scene from a controlled fire. Credit: Bureau of Land Management
This year, PFT continued its work to establish successful coalitions for fire management focused on restoring good fire. This large coalition-building effort began in the wake of California’s 2017-2021 wildfires, when it became clear that many impacted communities were being left out of the conversation about fire management. Since then, we have worked to join a diverse group of voices including Tribes, environmental justice groups, public health advocates, ranchers, agricultural groups, and regional governmental entities to share knowledge and solutions. Earlier this year, PFT succeeded in securing funding in California’s budget for fire training centers that we hope will play a key role in restoring the large-scale use of beneficial fire. The budget dedicated $5 million to prescribed fire training around the state!
A key part of our work protecting the natural resources and climate benefits intrinsic to private forests is our stewardship of 35 conservation easements on more than 110,000 acres in California and Oregon. As our “boots on the ground,” PFT’s Conservation and Stewardship team often have the pleasure of working directly with our landowner partners. PFT partners are as unique as the lands they own, and they have made a public commitment to protect these lands in perpetuity.
Endangered species like this Sierra Nevada red fox depend on the strengthening of conserved wildlife corridors – a major facet of PFT’s work.
The Mount Ashland Demonstration Forest
PFT was delighted to close on our purchase of the Mount Ashland Forest this year! The property, which provides a natural wildlife corridor for a number of threatened, vulnerable, and endangered species along Oregon’s Siskiyou Crest, will serve as a model for climate resilience under PFT’s careful management. We have already conserved over 11,000 acres of key lands within and around the Cascade Siskiyou National Monument. This acquisition will mark a continuation of our efforts to build a conserved corridor through the CSNM to the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest. Check out our website for more about the Mount Ashland Demonstration Forest project, or head to the August issue of Forest Flash to see what it took to survey and collect critical data in the Mount Ashland Forest.
Stewardship Forester Jack Springer and PFT partner Marty Main consulting on Mount Ashland.
This work was also featured in the US Nature4Climate article on the importance of conserving and managing forests for climate resilience. The article was part of USN4C’s “Building Ambition Through Action” campaign. Read it here.
Promoting good fire
This year, PFT continued its work to establish successful coalitions for fire management focused on restoring good fire. This large coalition-building effort began in the wake of California’s 2017-2021 wildfires, when it became clear that many impacted communities were being left out of the conversation about fire management. Since then, we have worked to join a diverse group of voices including Tribes, environmental justice groups, public health advocates, ranchers, agricultural groups, and regional governmental entities to share knowledge and solutions. Earlier this year, PFT succeeded in securing funding in California’s budget for fire training centers that we hope will play a key role in restoring the large-scale use of beneficial fire. The budget dedicated $5 million to prescribed fire training around the state!
A scene from a controlled fire. Credit: Bureau of Land Management
The Trinity Headwaters project represents a new model for the conservation and stewardship of our natural water sources.
Big wins for natural water security
Building on many years of PFT efforts, comprehensive funding for natural watershed conservation and restoration was included in California’s FY 22-23 Budget Bill! Nearly $400 million is being devoted to watershed conservation. This allocation marks the first comprehensive investment for natural water security in the state and is a recognition of how vital key source watersheds are for California’s water security, especially with the increasing impacts of climate change. Northern California’s watersheds are the source of most of the state’s drinking and agricultural water. Read more about this historic budget victory in our August issue of Forest Flash.
Support for the Trinity Headwaters – thank you, Congressman Huffman!
PFT has been working to conserve 11,000 acres in the upper Trinity Headwaters. Earlier this year, we were thrilled that Congressman Jared Huffman (D-CA) submitted an Appropriations request for the project, which has been included in the House’s 2023 omnibus spending bill, the Consolidated Appropriations Act. Join us in thanking Congressman Huffman for his successful work securing $2 million in funding for the Trinity Headwaters project!
PFT President Laurie Wayburn addresses the crowd at this year’s annual Forest Fete celebration.
In 2022 we continued our work of changing minds and frameworks about how people think about working forests, especially as they relate to climate resilience. We were lead presenters at a variety of venues from the Mass Timber Conference to California Native Plant Society, to the California Air Resources Board. PFT was covered in the Economist and Sightline magazines, interviewed for a segment on Environmental Directions Radio, and received several notable mentions in other articles and press releases touching on the intersection of climate, watershed health, fire management, and forests.
Here’s to a wonderful 2023 for forests!
Thank you, reader, for joining us in another year of seeing the forest beyond the trees. If you’d like to share the gift of natural forests, consider giving to the Pacific Forest Trust. Donations made by the end of this month will be matched by a generous anonymous donor.
Give with confidence. Charity Navigator awarded Pacific Forest Trust a perfect score in finance and accountability.