Protect Pomo Homelands and Redwood Forests! A Petition to Governor Gavin Newsom and State Representatives
From our partner the Environmental Protection Information Center & the Coalition to Save Jackson:
Please sign this petition to declare your support of the objectives of the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians, Pomo Land Back and the Coalition to Save Jackson State Forest. Specifically:
Jackson Demonstration State Forest (JDSF) is the largest state forest in California at nearly 50,000 acres. It is located in the unceded ancestral Northern Pomo and Coast Yuki territory of the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians. Since its inception in 1947, the State has primarily managed this forest to cut it for profit, not preserve it. The Tribe, along with a statewide coalition of environmental justice advocates have joined together to protect and preserve the trees and ancestral cultural resources located throughout this forest. This state-owned forest is predominantly redwood, with remnant old-growth and some of the most significant large second-growth forest remaining in the State. Redwoods sequester and store more carbon than any other tree species, yet in the face of the current climate crisis, CalFire continues to log the forest for profit. Ongoing logging, road-building and herbicide use have seriously damaged the ancestral cultural resources of the Tribe and devastated this beautiful, bio-diverse ecosystem.
We advocate that the State of California:
Replace the current legislative mandate governing JDSF, which requires commercial logging, with a new mandate for forest restoration and preservation led by Traditional Ecological Knowledge.
Declare a moratorium on logging, road building, and herbicide use until a Tribal/State co-management agreement is approved, and a revised forest management plan reflecting Tribal and environmental concerns is in place. The State cannot continue to log Pomo Homelands, JDSF, while supposedly negotiating a co-management agreement with the Coyote Valley Tribe. Good faith negotiations are not happening. This makes us question the seriousness of the State’s commitment to equally co-managing ancestral territories with Tribes.
Negotiate in good faith an equal co-management agreement of JDSF with the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians. We call upon the Governor to live up to his policy directive to state agencies to pursue co-management with Tribes of state-owned land in their ancestral Tribal territories, in order to initiate true reconciliation between the State and Tribes for harms done.
Respect and Protect the ancestral cultural resources of the Northern Pomo and Coast Yuki Tribes including the entire cultural landscape of Sacred Sites, ancestral village sites and connecting trails.
Implement protections for JDSF that will conserve it in line with California’s 30 x 30 goal to preserve 30 percent of CA land and coastal waterways by 2030, while still allowing restoration and Tribal management. The carbon sequestration and storage potential of coastal redwood forests makes JDSF a top priority for conservation to help avert climate catastrophe. The forest is also a biodiversity hotspot, home to many endangered critters and plants, and impaired waterways that must be protected.
The Time is Now!
We must join together to protect and preserve this Pomo Homelands forest for all people.
