Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Humboldt County and Arcata have a rich tradition of natural resource stewardship
and ecological restoration dating back to the late 1970s. At that time, Redwood Na-
tional Park was expanded by 48,000 acres during a period of community divisiveness.
Part of the expansion legislation provided $33 million for watershed restoration within
the Redwood Creek drainage (Belous 1984; Keith 1984). Since that time, there has
been a consistent and concerted effort, supported by state and federal government, to
reverse the ecological damage that had devastated the region's old-growth forests and
salmonid fisheries. As Redwood National Park is not close to population centers, the
extensive restoration work there has taken place in isolation without the locally based
public involvement that Arcata has enjoyed by proximity to the resource. Moreover,
unlike the Arcata Community Forest, sale of merchantable logs from forest thinning
to offset treatment costs is not allowed in the federal and state parks.
Today, restoration-related work represents a significant component of the local
economy, and Arcata is home to several private consulting firms and agencies that are
deeply involved in the field (see chap. 16, this volume). Most of the restoration efforts
in the region have focused on restoring salmonid habitat through in-stream work as
well as work in upland areas and coastal estuaries. The community forest includes the
headwaters for five salmon-bearing streams that flow to Humboldt Bay through state,
federal, and local wildlife areas. The quality of those areas is influenced by manage-
ment activities in the community forest. Revenue from timber harvests has been used
to purchase wetlands, creekside conservation easements, and parkland that have ben-
efited the Humboldt Bay area ecosystem and local recreational users. City restoration
activities have included urban stream “daylighting,” coastal salt and brackish marsh
enhancement, and riparian restoration work in the streams that flow from the com-
munity forest to Humboldt Bay.
Arcata is home to Humboldt State University and its School of Natural Resources.
Like many college towns, the population demographics are in constant flux; Arcata is
like a migratory path funneling thousands of college students into its environs for a
few years before they disperse to other regions. For many of these young people, their
Arcata years are formative ones as they achieve or expand their ecological awareness.
The Arcata Community Forest provides one of the opportunities for these students to
connect with a small, but influential, restoration experience.
Governance
The Arcata Community Forest is managed by the city's Environmental Services De-
partment. A volunteer Forest Management Committee advises staff and the city coun-
cil on forest policy matters. The committee consists of seven members with back-
grounds and expertise in botany, forest ecology, wildlife, fisheries, geology, recreation,
and forestry. All committee meetings and field trips are open to the public, and com-
munity members are encouraged to attend and participate. The committee members,
whose tenure on the committee averages eighteen years, are respected in the commu-
nity and, thus, provide credibility to the city's forestry program. The current operation
of the community forest is tied to a 1979 voter-approved parkland bond initiative to
