Safeguards for AB2494, a bill to Modernize JDSF
On Friday, February 20th, Assemblymember Chris Rogers introduced AB2494, a bill intended to modernize the operations of California’s demonstration state forests. This bill would end the commercial logging mandate of Jackson Demonstration State Forest.
The Mendocino Trail Stewards are excited at the possibility of seeing our demonstration forests become “Demonstration Forests for the 21st Century.” If fortified with the following safeguards to close potential loopholes and ensure positive outcomes, this legislation stands to be an important step toward a modern vision for California’s demonstration state forests.
Increase the appeal and potential for financial stability offered by the new funding mechanism by raising the priority level for State Forests from lowest to highest
Significantly increase transparency in decision-making processes, operations, and financials, while addressing real or perceived conflicts of interest in existing management decisionmaking
Implement a trust-but-verify approach to set concrete management goals, targets, and measures of progress that are regularly verified, all with particular attention to cumulative impacts
Ensure science-based regulatory compliance to mitigate current greenwashing practices
Provide clear definitions of “restoration” and “demonstration” that prioritize returning forest lands to their historical ecological conditions and functioning while pre-empting veiled justifications of logging for revenue generation
More explicitly safeguard and nurture mature and older-growth trees
Institute more rigorous creation and review of operational documents (Timber Harvest Plans, Vegetation Treatment Plans, etc.)
More vigorously, re-center the research program on sustainability rather than timber harvesting methods
Specify proactive efforts to build workforce capacity and create the restoration economy envisioned in the Bill
