A moneymaker


ike many forested communities, the city of Arcata, California has endured longstanding tensions between environmentalists and the timber industry. But community forests can be a win-win solution that unites both interests, says Trust for Public Land project manager John Bernstein. In Arcata Community Forest, second-growth trees are selectively harvested on a long rotation that both generates revenue and helps to maintain—even improve— forest health.


“It’s helped demonstrate to a diverse group of stakeholders that logging can be compatible with restoration of old-growth conditions, with watershed management, with species protection, and with recreation,” says Bernstein. Arcata is also experi- menting with an alternative revenue source: selling carbon offsets, which preserves trees while helping reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Elsewhere, funds generated from sustainable timber harvesting and other forest products can help towns pay off loans used to buy the land—and to fund other city services. For example, 13 Mile Woods Community Forest in Errol, New Hampshire supports the local economy by attracting tourists who visit to hike and fly-fish on the Androscoggin River. Says Krussman, “The forest has basically paid for itself through tourism and timber, and will soon be at the point of generating revenue that the town can use for whatever it wants—improving water treatment, say, or renovating the town hall.”


binomial name Oncorhynchus tshawytscha habitat


Western North America, ranging from California to Alaska


weight Up to 130 lb


46 · LAND&PEOPLE · FALL/WINTER 2015


jerry and marcy monkman


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