The town-owned forest has been a fixture of northern New England communities since colonial times, but the idea has long since spread to other regions. Here are two communities outside New England that are working to build community forests.
Arcata, California
In the heart of the redwood belt, the coastal community of Arcata (population 7,200) created California’s first city-owned forest in 1955. The Arcata Community Forest along the city’s eastern border provides recreational opportunities for hikers and mountain bikers, environmental educa- tion for local Humboldt State University, timber for sustainable harvest, and habitat for many sensitive species. More recently The Trust for Public Land has been work- ing with landowners, the city, community groups, and funding agencies to create the Sunny Brae Forest, Arcata’s second city-owned forest. Completion of a recent project brought Arcata’s community-owned forests to 2,250 acres in total. Near Arcata, TPL is also working with Humboldt County to create a locally owned forest of up to 2,000 acres adjacent to the city of Eureka.
Lawrence Marcus Swan Valley, Montana Joanna Seibert 40 LAND&PEOPLE Spring/Summer 2012
The rural Swan Valley in Montana lies at the heart of the groundbreaking, three- phase Montana Legacy Project, in which The Trust for Public Land and The Nature Conservancy acquired more than 300,000 acres from a private timber company for protection as working forests by the U.S. Forest Service and state agencies. In 2009, as the project took shape, the Swan Val- ley community asked that a few parcels be held back for possible purchase as a community forest. Long active in efforts to protect the forests, the community now wanted a role in their management. TPL is advancing a plan under which a public agency would acquire an easement—paying for the development rights to the land and thereby reducing its price to the commu- nity—and is also helping the community apply for project funding from the new federal Community Forest Program.