Community-Based Forest Management in Arcata, California

Abstract

The Arcata Community Forest, established in 1955, comprises 2,150 acres of secondgrowth redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) forest near Humboldt Bay in Humboldt County, California (fig. 8.1).While redwood is the iconic northern coastal California tree, the community forest also contains other conifers such as Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), grand fir (Abies grandis), western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla), western red cedar (Thuja plicata), and Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis). Management for the community forest is guided by the City of Arcata (population 16,900) government leaders, the City’s technical advisory committee, and local citizens, all of whom have expressed commitments to a sustainable management program that serves as a model of a managed forest for demonstration and educational purposes. Through volunteer activities, the citizenry is involved in an adaptive management approach to increase biodiversity, accelerate old-forest conditions, provide late-successional forest habitat, and sequester carbon while providing revenue. Timber harvest revenues fund forest operations, habitat restoration, and open space and parkland acquisitions. Community forestry in Arcata is designed to provide local residents the opportunity and responsibility to manage their natural resources. In environmentally minded Arcata, manipulation of the forest by variousmeans, including timber harvesting, has been socially acceptable due to the ecological soundness of the project goals, confidence in the Forest Management Committee, and the visible results of almost thirty years of treatments.