FOREST FLASH
April 2024
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.
PFT’s commitment to returning beneficial fire to the landscape is something where we “walk the talk.” We are implementing both on-the-ground practices and advancing policies to make it easier to have more planned fire, safely, and in more places. And we are well on our way to our goal of drastically scaling up the amount of “good fire” with prescribed fire this year. Near-perfect weather conditions have allowed us to commence our planned burn on McCloud Soda Springs Working Forest, which covers 1,350 acres of ponderosa pine and mixed conifers, home to hundreds of species of wildlife, and many springs and streams that feed into the McCloud River. Starting mid-April, we began broadcast burning on the property, first creating a layer of protection between the larger burn and the bordering residential areas. Over the course of the designated 2024 burn windows, and into early 2025, we will burn some 750 acres across the property. Once completed, it will be one of the largest burns on private commercial forestland in over 20 years.
PFT’s Stewardship Forester, Jack Singer, on the burn line.
This “good fire” helps maintain the spacing between trees which reduces the impact of future fires, be they planned or not, and refreshes the grasses and forbs, which so many insects, birds, and mammals depend on. In addition to enhancing the future fire resilience of the forest and neighboring town of McCloud, this fire is essential to supporting habitats and overall biodiversity; watershed function improvement is also expected.
We are very grateful for the cooperation and enthusiasm that the greater McCloud community and neighboring landowners have shown us through both the educational outreach phase, as well as throughout the burn thus far. Many residents have stopped by to witness the burn, meet our fire crews, and engage the team in discussion about the positive effects of prescribed fire.
Stay tuned for more updates on this burn, and the others that we have planned for the future!
Governor Gavin Newsome and PFT President Laurie Wayburn celebrating the historic climate targets; Riparian plantings at the newly established Dos Rios State Park are thriving.
This past Monday, on Earth Day, Governor Gavin Newsom put forth historic, first-of-its-kind policy harnessing the power of California’s natural and working lands (NWL) in the fight against climate change. With 81 targets across diverse land types and uses, this part of the Governor’s California Climate Commitment, the plan outlines essential actions to help the is state meet its goal of carbon neutrality by 2045—and forests playing an critical role in accomplishing that.
These ambitious but very feasible targets laid out by Newsom are grounded in work done by the AB1757 Expert Advisory Committee (EAC), chaired by PFT President Laurie Wayburn. The EAC’s recommendations, published by the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) earlier this year, not only boldly recognize the untapped potential of California’s lands in sequestering massive amounts of carbon, but also articulated clear and innovative ways to conserve, restore, and actively manage these lands to reach their climate healing potential. As a result of this report, Newsom’s new plan calls for almost 12 million acres of the state’s forests to be conserved and managed to promote biodiversity, improved for water security and regulation, their ability to store carbon and adapt to climate increased.
Laurie Wayburn and Liane Randolph, Chair of the California Air Resources Board (CARB)
This plan represents a sea change in how we deploy nature-based solutions to secure our future, and sets a model for the nation. It is also spurring additional legislation to promote its implementation. Assemblymember Diane Papan (D), has already introduced a bill (AB3023) to streamline implementation of these solutions. We are so privileged to help guide our state in this direction!
Please consider a donation to the Pacific Forest Trust. Your help—in all capacities—makes our work possible. Thanks for supporting us as we support forests!
Core to OWEB’s mission is the permanent protection of natural and working lands, and the heritage of landowners stewardship such as with the conservation easement on the Mountcrest Forest with owner Jud Parsons, and the establishment of PFT’s Mt. Ashland Demonstration Forest.
Following February’s short legislative session in Oregon, where funding for the Oregon Agricultural Heritage Program (OAHP) was secured, though at a level below what is needed, the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) is undergoing a strategic refresh. This refresh is not just about adapting to new challenges; it is about bolstering the long-term success of OAHP, a critical program dedicated to working lands conservation in the state.
While OWEB’s proposed refresh offers a number of ways to accelerate its restoration work, we need to reinforce its commitment to securing those restoration investments via the protection of Oregon’s natural and working lands hertiage as well. Thus, we suggest that the organization make central a reinvigorated focus on “land protection”—a key tenet of OWEB’s mission, but one that is sometimes overshadowed by its emphasis on restoration, particularly that of watersheds. “Protection,” however, is the foundational building block for all of OWEB’s intertwined efforts: vital ecosystems and working lands, once conserved, are better equipped for lasting restoration. By prioritizing land protection alongside restoration, OWEB aims to enhance the resilience of Oregon’s watersheds against threats like climate change, habitat loss, and invasive species.
This renewed emphasis on “land protection” and the organization’s conservation of working landscapes also carries important implications for the sustainability of OAHP funding, which Oregon farmers and ranchers rely on to sustain their way of life and safeguard natural resources for all.
PFT greatly values its partnership with OWEB and is committed to helping ensure its longterm success.
ICYMI
In case you missed it (ICYMI), here are some other exciting things PFT has been involved in lately!
- We’re just one week away from Forest Fete—our annual gala and THE premier event for forest lovers. It takes place on May 2 in San Francisco. This year’s keynote speaker is California Natural Resources Agency’s Wade Crowfoot; John Popper of Blues Traveler will provide musical entertainment! We will honor CA State Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas. Help us set the night aflame, and bring your friends. Don’t wait! Tickets here.
- PFT’s Laurie Wayburn was quoted in a recent POLITICO piece that highlights the new focus, within California politics, on climate change’s effects on rural communities. “There really is the opportunity,” Wayburn said, “to shift the emphasis in our climate investments to really reflect the value of natural and working lands.”
- This Los Angeles Times article, on Gavin Newsom’s historic climate targets, lays out how the recommendations set forth by the AB1757 Expert Advisory Committee, chaired by PFT President Laurie Wayburn, have helped guide the Governor’s bold, new plan.
