I know your are curious about the outcome of the Mendocino County Supervisors meeting on the resolution on Jackson State Forest. I will try to provide a longer report later, if events don’t sweep me away, but I wanted to give you the highlights and my first impressions quickly.

First and foremost, we all owe a big thanks to all of those who wrote and called the supervisors and, especially, those who took the time out of busy lives to come to the rally and meeting. We will get copies of all of the communications that were received and tell you the totals (which will certainly be more than 300 in support of restoration). The personal turnout in Ukiah was heartwarming and impressive. There were almost forty people at the rally and many more than that at the meeting. The rally was high spirited and positive. There was no anger or denunciation, only a determination to let the supervisors know that many, many people wanted the forest restored, not logged.

The meeting hall was filled beyond its official capacity of 155 people. People were standing in the back and spilling out into the halls. Timber workers and owners were out in force to protect their interests, aware of the publicity given to the meeting. There was no way to count our numbers exactly, but when I asked people who supported restoration to stand, it seemed like more than half stood.

I know many of you want to know, "What was the outcome?" The short answer is that the Board passed an amended resolution by a 4 to 1 vote. The resolution supports continued large-scale logging of Jackson State Forest. On the face, it looks like a loss for us and a clear victory for the timber industry. But, the short answer fails to capture all that was accomplished by the outpouring of opposition to logging and the support for restoration.

First, the resolution that finally passed, as compared to the resolution first introduced at the Forest Council, recognized the value of forests not only to the economy of the county, but also for the "environment and wildlife, and for the recreation, nourishment and education of its citizenry. It also recognized that Jackson State Forest "is a unique and valuable forest asset whose future is of great importance to Mendocino County." The resolution that passed omitted praise for past timber practices in Jackson State, and it qualified support for "the sustainable production and management of timber resources on Jackson Demonstration State Forest" by adding the phrase, "with balanced consideration for recreation, wildlife, research and education."

None of these positive changes would have occurred without the huge expression of public support for restoring the forest to old growth. While the passed resolution falls far short of the goal of the Campaign to Restore Jackson State Redwood Forest, it is the first official county repudiation of timber production as the primary purpose of the forest.

Second, the size of public support for restoration certainly opened the eyes of the politicians, not simply the supervisors themselves but all other politicians within and outside of the county. Although this particular group of supervisors refused to listen to the public outcry, other politicians now know that restoration has broad public support. This will certainly move the "politic" position on use of the public forest in our direction.

Third, the movement to restore Jackson State to old growth gained strength both in numbers and a sense of cohesiveness. Everyone who was at the meeting could feel the shared intensity of their friends and neighbors, their passion for restoring a part of our precious redwood forest as a haven for the plants and wildlife dependent on it and as sustenance for us and our children.

We will continue to grow stronger until we prevail, as we certainly will.

Thanks to each and every one of you for your support for our public redwood forest,

Vince