Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
capacity to communicate and learn from other community forest projects. This has
been refreshing because for years Arcata's community-based program existed in rela-
tive isolation without comparable programs. Each restoration project provides an op-
portunity to link the public with the forest and create a constituency devoted to the
protection of the forest environment.
Looking Ahead to 2020: Old Issues and New Opportunities
Restoring forest ecosystems is a process of recovery requiring a long-term, future-
oriented approach, and success depends on sustained public and political support as
well as investment of labor and capital. As with any long-term strategy requiring
50-100 years of effort, there are numerous challenges to overcome as well as opportu-
nities that arise.
Ecological Challenges and Opportunities
Collaboration with conservation biologists and ecologists must be continually nur-
tured in order to provide information and maintain the credibility of the restoration
program. This can best be accomplished through a monitoring program that has clear
goals and indicators of success. Climate change presents a particular challenge be-
cause it changes everything about our previous assumptions. We must be prepared to
challenge previous assumptions in order to plan treatments to prepare forest ecosys-
tems to be as resilient as possible. Sharing data with others and documenting recovery
efforts may allow Arcata's small-scale efforts to fit into the larger landscape level in
terms of lessons learned and the observation of regional trends. Efforts to date have
helped the City of Arcata obtain public and financial support for expansion of the for-
est, prevention of potential future fragmentation, and maintenance of existing habitat
connectivity.
Social Challenges and Opportunities
Educating the public about the complexity of forest restoration, especially using tim-
ber harvest to mimic episodic disturbance, is a continuing challenge that requires ed-
ucational outreach. It is important to approach this with a degree of humility. The se-
lective harvesting regime implemented during the past thirty years has visibly altered
the forest. Larger, more widely spaced trees and a “parklike” appearance have, more
than anything else, led to continued public support for the forest management pro-
gram. The public has also supported using a portion of the net timber revenue to
leverage other funding sources in order to purchase additional forest land and protect
and restore urban streams and wetlands (box 8.1).
Educating and preparing community volunteers is a fundamental part of
community-based forestry. Volunteer stewards engaged with land managers become a
constituency that is better informed and prepared to accept the responsibility that is a
community-owned forest. Maintaining the credibility and trust of the Forest Manage-
ment Committee is critical for the city to maintain the social license to continue tim-
