CA Wildland Restoration Alliance Tackles Wildfire Mitigation & Community Uplift
Sherry Reckler & Christy Prescott, Pacific Southwest Region
July 12, 2023
View from the North Fork Lumber company’s small log mill in Korbel, California. This mill is invested in the development and creation of a regenerative economy for the surrounding community. (USDA Forest Service photo by Christy Prescott)
It all started back in 2019. USDA Forest Service Social Scientist Christy Prescott, a resident of Eureka, California, began ruminating about uplifting poverty-stricken communities around California’s North Coast facing ever-rising catastrophic wildfire risks. She pondered … if California’s timber industry could build on the region’s assets, it could revitalize their economy and bring affordable housing to the area through alternative revenue from small diameter wood and biomass.
Previously, the North Coast of California reigned as a titan of the timber industry for more than 100 years — from the 1850s to the late 1980s. At one point, 174 sawmills were operating in Humboldt County in 1951. Only 10 remain today. With the heyday of timber removal over by the mid-20th century, timber harvests were significantly reduced in northwestern California with a new emphasis on wildfire suppression.
Most mills and processing plants along with supporting forestry services went out of business with decades having passed since the industry experienced a surge of generational interest or investment. As a result, the remaining players were forced to operate within a restricted timber environment.
Stakeholders meet for a tour of the North Fork Lumber mill to learn more about reducing wildfire risk and boosting local economies. The mill highlights innovative, efficient lumber use of small diameter trees. (USDA Forest Service photo by Christy Prescott)
That is, until 2019, when opportunities for community uplift on the North Coast and new conservation finance tools aligned. Pulling together internal support and funding, and pushing back against quite a few odds, the Forest Service’s California Forest Wildland Restoration for Social, Economic, Environmental Sustainability Alliance was launched. Or CalForest WRX, for short. Their mission? To provide an alliance of private, nonprofit, academic, tribal and government partners to create social, economic and environmental sustainability by removing biomass and smaller diameter trees on California lands.
Now matched with Conservation Investment Management (CIM), an industry leader in solving complex issues via engagement with public private partnerships, CalForest WRX hopes to identify alternative revenue streams for small diameter wood and biomass by fostering or “incubating” small business desire for woody debris from California Forests while concurrently reducing severe wildfire. CIM will further assist by designing a strategic plan, with local stakeholders identifying known obstacles associated with bringing wood to market, to create new industries.
“It's an exciting moment in Humboldt County’s history as we seek to push past those obstacles that have held us back and really create the economic uplift and jobs for our community,” said Scott Adair, Director of Economic Development for Humboldt County.
Mill owners echo these sentiments and feel it has been a long time coming.
“It’s an exciting time to be in the forest products business. The changing attitudes around the role forest products can play in forest stewardship, sustainable development, and building a regenerative economy is refreshing and gives me hope,” said George Schmidbauer, Special Project Manager at North Fork Lumber, and member of CalForest WRX.
Log delivery to the Schmidbauer Lumber mill in Eureka, California. The Schmidbauer family owns and operates three mills in northwestern California — North Fork Lumber Mill in Korbel, Trinity River Sawmills in Weaverville, and the Schmidbauer Lumber in Eureka. (USDA Forest Service photo by Christy Prescott)
As the project developer, Conservation Investment Management designs a plan with local stakeholders to identify known obstacles to bringing small-diameter wood and biomass to market. This includes engaging stakeholders along the supply chain to identify what’s working, addressing barriers, and testing key shifts to grow staffing. Add to that, help on landowner assistance and business development support.
“Tackling catastrophic wildfire risk at scale requires new ways of thinking and of working together,” said Ben Guillon, CEO of Conservation Investment Management. “The CalForest WRX alliance is a platform for Tribes, local and federal public agencies, private businesses and landowners, and nonprofit groups to invent and lead together on the future of forestry in Humboldt County.”
Six Rivers National Forest Supervisor Ted McArthur agrees, “With the Six Rivers National Forest being the anchor forest for the Alliance within Humboldt County, the unified goals and efforts of this partnership in the region are vital to our success in restoring forest health on national forests and neighboring private forest lands.”