Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
FIGURE 8.1.
Map of Arcata Community Forest in northern California, USA.
regenerated from the stumps and seeds of the pre-European-settlement forest. Follow-
ing early logging, lands within what is now the community forest were used for graz-
ing and water supply, but it was not until the 1930s and 1940s that the citizens of Ar-
cata gained title to the property for the purpose of providing water supplies to the town
(Van Kirk 1985).
The Arcata Community Forest was dedicated in 1955 as the first municipally
owned forest in the state of California and was envisioned to be “managed for the ben-
efit of all the citizens of the city, with attention to watershed, recreation, timber man-
agement and other values” (
Humboldt Times
May 15, 1955). Much of the community
forest was selectively logged in the 1960s. At that time, second-growth redwood was
not a desired species, and redwoods were spared in favor of Douglas fir, grand fir, and
Sitka spruce, resulting in a simplified system of homogeneous, even-aged redwoods.
Current-day restoration activities are designed to remedy the ecologically deleterious
effects of these past management practices.
