tribal redwood – A California bill could end logging mandates in demonstration forests, expand tribal management authority, and reshape funding toward conservation goals.
A centuries-old redwood forest on California’s North Coast is no longer just a landscape—it’s become a test of who gets to decide its future.
Daniel Felix. 10. peers out from atop a massive stump on his tribe’s ancestral land within Jackson Demonstration State Forest. a unique public forest spanning about 50. 000 acres.. Once, the area held abundant old-growth redwoods capable of living beyond 2,000 years.. Today. only a fraction remain after logging depleted much of the original forest. including cuts carried out by a logging company before the state acquired the land in the 1940s.
Jackson is one of California’s 14 demonstration forests. a program designed to produce and sell timber as proof of “sustainable” practices.. In practice. management is supported by revenue generated from logging—roughly $8.5 million each year—paid out to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. known as Cal Fire.. The arrangement is central to how the state manages the forest and has long been a point of tension with Indigenous communities who view the land as far more than an economic resource.
Daniel’s tribe. the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians. has pushed to rein in cutting—an effort spearheaded by his late great-grandmother. Priscilla Hunter.. They are part of a broader coalition that includes environmental advocates, local political leaders, and other tribes.. Now, that push may be moving from years of advocacy toward legislative change.
Assemblymember Chris Rogers (D-Santa Rosa) has introduced a bill that would remove the logging requirement for California’s demonstration forests and shift the state’s priorities to goals such as carbon storage. wildfire resilience. and biodiversity.. Under the proposal. logging could still occur. but it would have to align with the new principles. and the forests would be supported through a different funding approach than the current model tied to timber revenue.
The bill also signals a potentially historic shift in governance.. It would open the door to giving tribes a say in managing the lands for the first time since they were forcibly evicted more than a century ago.. It would further support the integration of Indigenous knowledge into forest practices, including cultural burning.
Polly Girvin. who had been Hunter’s partner and later worked as a retired lawyer focused on Native American issues. said the opportunity reflects something the community had long envisioned—adding that. in Indian Country. achieving justice can take decades.. Her remarks underscored how the latest legislative moment fits into a much longer struggle over stewardship and recognition.
Supporters of the bill say it could help communities find a new economic footing in the so-called redwood curtain region.. With logging and cannabis declining. they point to tourism and outdoor recreation as potential alternatives. including ultramarathons. mushroom foraging. and other nature-based activities.. Mendocino County Supervisor Ted Williams argued that even a modest increase in visitor numbers tied to recreation could generate more lodging-tax revenue than the timber-related funds communities currently receive.
But the proposal is drawing sharp resistance from the timber industry.. Loggers and mill owners argue that their work is sustainable and provides blue-collar jobs in a region where such employment has already diminished.. They also say the state’s current reliance on imports from other states and countries complicates any claim that reducing local logging would automatically lower environmental harm elsewhere.. Already, California imports most of its wood from Oregon, Washington, and Canada.
Myles Anderson, a logging company owner in Fort Bragg, criticized the bill as exporting environmental impact rather than eliminating it.. He said California’s restrictions often shift the environmental footprint to other places while still bringing the wood into the state.. Anderson also believes the bill would reduce logging substantially, possibly ending it altogether.
Activists who have sought to rein in logging at Jackson have renewed momentum around the bill.. They staged a major gathering last month—one that they described as the first of its kind in about four years—and they say the legislation represents a meaningful step.. A ceremonial atmosphere followed. with kids playing around a redwood stump during a potluck held after what participants called a spirit run.
The new fight over Jackson’s redwoods has roots in earlier confrontations.. About five years ago, residents learned of plans to cut towering redwoods near the coastal town of Caspar.. Melinda Hunter. the tribe’s vice chairwoman and Priscilla Hunter’s daughter. described a pattern where her grandmother would react by coming into the forest—saying she could hear the trees “crying. ” portraying the logging as an attack on ancestral presence.
That episode brought together environmental activists and Native Americans, a collaboration that regional history has not always seen as common.. According to accounts from participants. “forest defenders” camped high in the canopy and blocked logging equipment with their bodies. with some people arrested during the standoff.. Activists connected their actions to earlier battles in the 1980s and 1990s. when iconic organizer Judi Bari helped lead Earth First!. campaigns against logging in the region.
After the earlier protests, Cal Fire paused new timber sales and halted some ongoing ones, citing public safety.. That included at least one sale expected to generate millions of dollars for Anderson’s company.. “We were left with nothing,” Anderson said of the pause and its disruption to the business.
The standoff later changed shape.. Last year. Cal Fire approved the first harvest plan since the hiatus. reviving controversy in a community that many describe as ecologically minded.. Jessica Curl, 47, recalled growing up in an area defined by “trunks,” when trucks carried logs away.. She said the redwoods are now regrowing. calling the forest renewal “gorgeous” and describing it as a strong carbon sink. consistent with the climate-mitigation arguments often used by conservation supporters.
Meanwhile, Indigenous communities have continued to emphasize not only ecological stakes but cultural and spiritual ones.. A mid-April event brought “spirit runners” into the Jackson forest. a tradition described as bringing prayer while sprinting through the landscape.. The gathering was framed as activists’ first major meet-up since protests wound down in 2022. with rain filtering through the canopy during the run.
During the event. participants formed a circle and waited for the runners. reading statements that spoke to what the living world is “missing”—including language. knowledge passed through hands and touch. songs. and the presence of children and community.. The message linked gathering and stewardship to the idea that the land and its people affect one another. using language about wellbeing and survival.
Cal Fire has also taken steps meant to incorporate Indigenous perspective, including launching a tribal advisory council for Jackson.. Some local tribes say those efforts do not go far enough because the council lacks decision-making power.. When the runners arrived. the circle welcomed them. and the gathering continued toward the site of a controversial proposed harvest referred to as Camp Eight.
At Camp Eight. participants wrapped a bandana belonging to Priscilla Hunter around a small tree. describing the moment as quiet and somber—marking what they framed as Hunter’s last stand.. Runners then took turns embracing the trunk. blending ritual with protest as the community pressed for change over how the land is managed.
The bill’s legislative path is now advancing in Sacramento.. In March, Rogers’ measure cleared a committee and was placed in the Assembly Appropriations Committee’s suspense file.. A hearing is set for Thursday.. Funding remains one of the bill’s most contested elements. with environmental advocates saying that funding demonstration forests through timber operations creates incentives to cut bigger trees.
Cal Fire has said its decisions are tied to forest health rather than industry demand.. In support of that argument. a Cal Fire staff chief for resource protection and improvement said Jackson’s nearly 80-year management history shows “care and attention. ” pointing to increased tree numbers. habitat. and larger trending trees since the state took ownership.
The bill would adjust how the forests are financed by funding them through a tax on lumber and engineered wood products.. A legislative analysis cited potential cost pressures. warning of ongoing state costs that could be substantial. including figures described as possibly in the low millions annually.. The timber industry trade group California Forestry Association dismissed the concept as unworkable.
While Cal Fire declined to comment on pending legislation, the debate underscores a larger question that continues to shape the region: whether Jackson’s land will once again reflect Indigenous visions of stewardship or remain shaped largely by decisions made through the state’s existing framework.
Buffie Campbell. executive director of the InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council—co-founded by Priscilla Hunter and among the groups backing the bill—said young people may never fully understand the significance of the legislation passing.. She framed that as possibly a blessing. arguing that those futures should focus on allowing the next generation to enjoy the land while serving as tribal guardians and stewards.
For families like Daniel Felix’s, the redwoods are not only a scientific resource or a climate tool. They are relatives, ancestors, and living memory—making the fight over logging mandates and governance feel, to those involved, less like policy and more like return.
California redwoods tribal land management logging rules Cal Fire wildfire resilience carbon storage policy