AB 2494

Bringing California’s Demonstration Forests into the 21st Century

California AB 2494: Modernizing Our State Demonstration Forests

California's 14 demonstration state forests cover 85,000 acres and are managed by Cal Fire. The management principles governing these forests have not been updated in decades and no longer reflect the state's climate resiliency goals. AB 2494, introduced by Assemblymember Chris Rogers (D-Santa Rosa) and co-authored by Senator Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg), modernizes that framework.

What AB 2494 Does

  • Redefines the primary mission — Shifts the stated purpose of demonstration forests from maximum sustained timber production to research, recreation, and ecological restoration. 

  • Aligns with state climate goals — Updates management principles to align with Governor Newsom's Executive Order N-82-20 and California's 30x30 initiative, encouraging ecological restoration and building resilience to climate change and wildfire. 

  • Redirects revenue — Requires that revenue from forest product sales, recreational user fees, and any other funds generated by demonstration state forests be deposited into the Timber Regulation and Forest Restoration Fund, to be reinvested in supporting the forests. 

  • Enables Tribal co-management — Encourages greater coordination and co-management agreements with tribes, expanding opportunities for tribal governments to participate in decision-making and land stewardship on state forest lands.

  • Supports a restoration economy — Generates jobs related to restoration work for fish habitat restoration, invasive plant removal, decommissioning of abandoned roads, clearing of legacy logging residues, controlled burns and more.

  • Maximizes carbon storage — The bill promotes retaining and nurturing large trees, shaping forests that are more resilient to climate change and maximizing durable carbon sequestration. 

  • Qualifies forests for 30x30 — Would qualify California's 85,000 acres of demonstration forests toward the state's goal to conserve 30% of lands and coastal waters by 2030. 

What AB 2494 Does NOT Do

  • Does not ban timber harvesting — The sale of timber and other forest products is still allowed under AB 2494, but as a byproduct of ecological restoration or research projects, not as the primary management objective. 

  • Does not eliminate forest funding — The bill allows funds from the Timber Regulation and Forest Restoration Fund (supported by an existing lumber tax) to be used to maintain demonstration state forests, decoupling operations from the need to log to pay the bills. 

  • Does not close forests to the public — Recreation remains a central and explicitly protected purpose of the forests under the new framework.

  • Does not transfer land ownership/create a State Park — The forests remain state-owned and Cal Fire-managed; Tribal co-management means partnership and shared governance, not a change in title.

  • Does not ignore economic impacts — The bill actively supports workforce transition and economic diversification.