Late last month, hundreds of activists and environmental groups rallied at California鈥檚 state capitol. Indigenous performers danced while others chanted to protest the logging of redwoods in the Jackson Demonstration State Forest.
Their rallying cry? 鈥淧omo land back.鈥�
It was a familiar scene for Priscilla Hunter. As an elder member of the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians, it wasn鈥檛 her first time rallying at the steps of the capitol building.
But this time, she said, it felt more personal than ever. Jackson Demonstration State Forest, located in Mendocino County, lies within the bounds of her ancestral lands.
鈥淚t's in our backyard,鈥� she said.
At 48,652 acres, it鈥檚 the largest state-owned forest in California. It鈥檚 mainly comprised of coastal redwoods and for Pomo people, it makes up a significant part of their lands, which stretch all along the coast of Northern California.
For months, protesters have rallied and even camped out in this State Forest in order to prevent California鈥檚 fire agency, Cal Fire, from logging these redwoods. Kevin Conway, Cal Fire鈥檚 State Forests Program Manager, said that these protests significantly delayed the agency鈥檚 2021 plans for managing the area.
Protesters say these trees are particularly important. Redwoods soak up large amounts of carbon, making them useful in combating climate change. And they also say that the trees need to be protected, as much of the irreplaceable old-growth redwoods in the state were logged throughout the twentieth century.
It鈥檚 a familiar story 鈥� environmentalists standing in the way of loggers, protecting trees from destruction. But, for Indigenous communities, the value of these redwoods extends beyond this.
Priscilla Hunter said that her tribe wants to preserve sites of cultural significance, like Jackson Demonstration State Forest.
鈥淚n their cutting down and making these timber harvest plans, they're destroying our sacred sites,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here's a lot of sacred sites on those mountains鈥nd they're not protecting them.鈥�
Redwoods activism
The history of protests in Northern California forests goes back decades. Activists spent months protesting the logging of old-growth redwoods throughout the 90s, part of a period now known as the Timber Wars.
Cal Fire鈥檚 Conway said that these protests changed his agency鈥檚 plans for Jackson Demonstration State Forest, which the agency has managed since acquiring it in 1947. After the protests, logging was paused between 2001 and 2008.
Logging was reinstated after 2008, but Conway says that Cal Fire restricted its use of clear-cutting and emphasized the growth of older redwoods. Now, the agency has protections in place for certain areas of old growth and plans to guide other areas to become old growth in the future.
鈥淚t really set forth for Cal Fire how important it was to grow these larger trees there on a sustainable basis, or for the purposes of increasing the amount of old growth 鈥榮et asides鈥� that are out there,鈥� he said.
But this time, Indigenous voices are at the front of the movement to protect redwoods. Michael Hunter, Priscilla鈥檚 son and chairman of the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians, said that for Pomo people, their history is intertwined with the existence of this forest.
鈥淭housands of years they lived there, they died there 鈥� they became soil,鈥� he said.
Conway said that government-to-government consultation between Cal Fire and the tribe began around April of last year. In these meetings, they looked at active timber harvesting plans that involved the tribe鈥檚 cultural sites and discussed what protections for those areas should look like.
Priscilla Hunter said that these sites often relate to areas where old Pomo villages once stood, and where cultural artifacts can be found. In these conversations, she expressed how she disagreed with the way Cal Fire was defining the boundaries of these sites. She said their definitions are often too narrow. Her ancestral lands were wide expanses, not confined by strict lines.
鈥淭hey make it as small as possible so they don鈥檛 protect the whole thing,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey take them village site per village site 鈥� they don鈥檛 think we鈥檙e all this great, large village site.鈥�
Conway said that these conversations have already led to Cal Fire officials rethinking their approach to cultural sites in forests. He says that the usual methods of assessment can be 鈥渃linical鈥� at times, which the tribe often challenged.
鈥淭hey really introduced that human element to it,鈥� he said. 鈥淲ith that, we've been able to have some conversations about additional measures that would be taken along the sites.鈥�
Since demonstrations in Jackson Demonstration State Forest ramped up last year, supporters have rallied behind the phrase to highlight the need for tribal management of the area.
But the tribe鈥檚 efforts predate this conflict. In 1986, Priscilla Hunter founded the with other tribal leaders to protect their ancestral lands in Northern California from clearcut logging. The council has since acquired over 4,000 acres of land.
鈥淚've seen that [working together] would be the only way to organize, to be able to get that land,鈥� she said.
Tribal and state governments have come together to manage lands in other states before. But Conway said that this approach is still fairly new in California.
He鈥檚 seen partnerships between state parks and tribes for projects before.
鈥淏ut formal co-management of an entire property, I鈥檓 not aware of,鈥� he said.
A fundamental disagreement
Since February 1, logging in Jackson Demonstration State Forest has been on pause while Cal Fire officials conduct an annual survey of spotted owls nesting in the area. Protesters are seeking a moratorium on logging in the area in the meantime.
Usually, the survey is completed sometime in mid-to-late-April, which then allows logging to continue.
Conway said that there will likely be no logging in the 鈥淐aspar 500鈥� 鈥� a section of the forest near the town of Caspar that was 鈥� until after an advisory group meeting on May 2. He said that this meeting will be aimed at discussing community concerns and will likely result in some changes to how Cal Fire is managing this area.
While Cal Fire has logged this area for years, Conway thinks that the agency鈥檚 attempts to log areas like the 鈥淐aspar 500鈥� on the western side of the forest, which lie close to towns like Mendocino and Caspar, caught community attention.
鈥淲e have not harvested very regularly on the western edge of our forest, knowing that we were going to run into some of these social conflicts that we have run into,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hat surprised us was the extent and the deepness of them.鈥�
Conway said that Cal Fire has worked on community outreach and sought resolutions with protesters. But the disagreement here lies at the core of their management approach.
鈥淭here is a fundamental policy disagreement from some members of the community, that public lands should [not] be managed with commercial logging,鈥� he said.
Conway said that a central purpose for Cal Fire鈥檚 strategy is to test the tradeoffs between commodity production and resource protection.
鈥淎nd so using commercial timber management, the same tools that private landowners have available to them, is an important part of that,鈥� he said.
Michael Hunter met with California鈥檚 Secretary of Natural Resources Wade Crowfoot on Wednesday. They discussed the possibility of a moratorium on logging in Jackson Demonstration State Forest.
While no moratorium has been set, Hunter said that he sees this conversation as one step toward reevaluating the way the State Forest is managed.
鈥淲e're going to have the opportunity to really rewrite the forest management plan,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd if that happens, that's going to be a precedent for all the other state forests.鈥�
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