Jackson Forest – Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters

Forest Bill Advances in Legislature<>AIM Spirit Runners Come to Jackson Forest

April 27, 2026 by Karen Pickett

On Sunday, April 12, 2026, we had very special visitors come to Jackson Demonstration State Forest (JDSF). The American Indian Movement (AIM) Spirit Runners came to the Mendocino coast for the weekend to do a prayer run through a portion of Jackson Forest, and share time and food with the community working to protect the forest. The AIM group, for decades, has had a 500-mile Spiritual Marathon where teams of runners participate in a running prayer by carrying a sacred staff. Runners will often pray for those who are sick or in prison and also for the preservation of sacred …

BILL TO END INDUSTRIAL LOGGING IN JACKSON FOREST INTRODUCED!

April 27, 2026 by Karen Pickett

Speak up for Jackson forest in october & november!

April 27, 2026October 29, 2025 by Karen Pickett

The agency that manages the Jackson Demonstration State Forest—CalFire—has released their draft plan for public input, for their intention to finalize a new Management Plan in early 2026. You can find the draft Management Plan here: https://www.fire.ca.gov/what-we-do/natural-resource-management/demonstration-state-forests/jackson-demonstration-state-forest. The list of public input meetings is below. You can submit comments in person or by email.The draft plan is rife with problems. CalFire did NOT put in place infrastructure to have tribal co-management so that tribes (whose ancestral land encompasses JDSF) could have an equal, meaningful seat at the table during the planning process. CalFire is NOT complying with the state’s premier …

Alert: calfire hearings on jackson forest now!

May 20, 2025December 5, 2024 by Karen Pickett

CalFire is Holding Public Meetings for New Forest Management Plan NOW: See below and links for schedule and info. Cal Fire is hosting “community insight” meetings for the new Management Plan for Jackson Demonstration State Forest. Please attend and/or comment by email to let Cal Fire know that they are in violation of California environmental review law and must wait until guidance on tribal co-management is provided by local Tribes and the California Natural Resources Agency. Even if you registered for the previous meeting, please pre-register for upcoming meetings to either attend or get background to comment at: https://jacksonstateforestplan.com/register. You can send comments on any of …

Raise Your Voice! Jackson Forest meetings are now!

January 5, 2025October 24, 2024 by Karen Pickett

CalFire is holding 8 Public Meetings starting NOW: See below for schedule. Cal Fire is requesting “community insight” for the new Management Plan for Jackson Demonstration State Forest. Please attend and let Cal Fire know that they are in violation of California environmental review law and must wait until guidance on tribal co-management is provided by local Tribes and the California Natural Resources Agency. Information and registration for these meetings is provided below. Suggested Talking Points for the meetings can be found here. Strong participation is crucial, so mark your calendars and plan to attend as many of these meetings as possible! If you pre-register, you will be …

Dances With Caltrans–Here we go again

March 24, 2023 by Karen Pickett

RICHARDSON GROVE REDWOODS: Here we go again: Same ill-conceived project, same clueless agency, same beneficiaries (the trucking industry and big box stores) Richardson Grove State Park in southern Humboldt County, is one of the state’s oldest state parks and and is one of the last protected stands of old-growth redwood trees in the world. The park has essential habitat for protected species, and its creeks support runs of imperiled salmon and steelhead trout, in addition to being a revered and popular camping area, called “the gateway to the redwoods”. The state transportation agency Caltrans seeks to widen and straighten the …

Raise Your Voice — Again — for Richardson Grove Redwoods!

November 26, 2021November 3, 2021 by Karen Pickett

Here we go again. Caltrans is back with another attempt to push through their Richardson Grove Project: They seek to “realign” the curvy Hwy 101 through the ancient redwoods of this 99-year old State Park to provide access for more and bigger trucks through the redwoods. This is one of those issues it seems we have won over and over, and yet…here we are. In 2017, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) completed an Addendum to their Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the project. This addendum document, along with the 2010 EIR and other background material, is now open …

Appeals Court Rules Against Richardson Grove Champions

February 24, 2021December 5, 2020 by Karen Pickett

We are beyond disappointed at a decision handed down on Dec. 2 by the Ninth Circuit regarding a controversial highway project through a grove of ancient redwood trees, reversing a lower court ruling that halted planned construction. The trees are part of Richardson Grove State Park, established in 1922 to protect the ancient redwoods that are as high as 300 feet and can be as old as 3,000 years. A panel of three judges, one a Trump appointee, reversed a District Court’s previous ruling in favor of the environmental plaintiffs, pending further environmental impact assessment. Caltrans, the California state transportation …

Action Camps for Mattole Forests Celebration for and in Richardson Grove

September 3, 2019July 17, 2019 by Karen Pickett

There are two action camps coming up in the Mattole River area, to support the continuing activity in the all-out effort to protect the precious forests and habitat of Rainbow Ridge. Since the chronology we sent you in our June update, there has been another tree-sit, rallies, lock-downs, strategic work and pressure from the Lost Coast League’s challenge to Humboldt Redwood Co.’s dishonest sustainable certification and other work. You can listen to an interview with tree-sitter #1, Rook, (still aloft, at this writing) on KMUD. as they mark one month in the tree: https://soundcloud.com/kmudnews/forest-defender-celebrates-month-long-tree-sit-at-rainbow-ridge We got a brief update yesterday from the folks …

Environmental Issues Prevail in Richardson Grove Redwoods vs. Caltrans in Federal Case

May 7, 2019 by Karen Pickett

Environmental Groups and individuals challenging Caltrans’ highway expansion plans through the ancient redwoods of Richardson Grove State Park got a favorable decision from a judge in federal court on May 3. You can see the decision by U.S. District Judge William Alsup here. This is the third federal case brought against Caltrans, paralleling cases in state court, bringing potentially severe impacts to the redwoods by Caltrans. Richardson Grove contains redwoods up to 3000 years old, 18′ in diameter and up to 300′ tall that grow right up to the edge of Highway 101. Caltrans first proposed “realigning” the highway in 2006, …