After exile, California tribes could help run their ancestral redwoods again

"Only a fraction are left now, depleted by a logging company before the state acquired the forest in the 1940s. This is unique public land, Jackson Demonstration State Forest, spanning 50,000 acres. Trees are plentiful here, but they might not live a millennium. California's 14 demonstration forests are required to produce and sell timber to show - or "demonstrate" - sustainable practices. Money from logging - roughly $8.5 million a year - pays for management of the forests by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire."

"Daniel's tribe, the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians, has pushed to rein in the cutting - spearheaded by his late great-grandmother, Priscilla Hunter. They're part of a diverse coalition that includes environmental activists, local politicians and other tribes. Now they may finally get their wish. Assemblymember Chris Rogers (D-Santa Rosa) has introduced a bill that would nix the forests' logging mandate, instead prioritizing values such as carbon storage, wildfire resilience and biodiversity."

"Under Assembly Bill 2494, there could still be logging, but it would have to support those new principles, and the forests would be funded differently. And it proposes another significant change. It would pave the way for giving tribes a say in managing the lands for the first time since they were forcibly evicted more than a century ago, and for integrating Indigenous knowledge - like cultural burning - into the forests."

California’s North Coast contains Jackson Demonstration State Forest, a 50,000-acre public forest where old-growth redwoods have been depleted by past logging. Fourteen demonstration forests are required to produce and sell timber, with logging revenue funding management by Cal Fire. The Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians, led by Priscilla Hunter and supported by a coalition of tribes, environmental activists, and local politicians, has sought to reduce cutting. Assembly Bill 2494 would remove the logging mandate and shift priorities toward carbon storage, wildfire resilience, and biodiversity. The bill would also change funding and enable tribal input in land management for the first time since forced eviction, including integrating Indigenous practices such as cultural burning.

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