Opinion: Cal Fire's forest management undermining California's climate goals

"Cal Fire, the state's chief fire agency, has a little-known side hustle managing 14 state-owned forests, totaling 85,000 acres. To pay those bills, Cal Fire logs the public's trees in its largest holding Jackson Demonstration State Forest which spans 50,000 acres in Mendocino County. The agency also wields absolute approval power for logging on California's vast private lands. Trees are about half carbon by dry weight. Coastal redwood forests contain more of the stuff than any other, storing it for more than two millennia if undisturbed."

"Highly resistant to rot, insects, and fire, old redwoods provide an extremely durable carbon piggy bank storing up to 1,300 tons per acre. At odds with California's climate goal of achieving zero-net carbon pollution, logging and milling wastes promptly release half a tree's carbon into the atmosphere. The rest resides for a time in lumber, which in the case of redwood is mostly used for picnic tables, fences and decks that all too soon decay and release the remaining carbon."

"Conveniently flawed Yes, the carbon may be recaptured if trees regrow. However, that's hardly guaranteed and takes far too long given the current climate emergency. Troublingly, Cal Fire's flawed models systematically underestimate logging emissions and overestimate regrowth, conveniently ignoring how climate change hamstrings regrowth and fuels wildfires that release yet more emissions. Thanks to such voodoo carbon accounting, sellers of forest carbon offsets elsewhere are having to refund buyers due to unmet growth projections. In fact, forest growth has been slowing around the world, including in Mendocino's Jackson forest, which could devolve into a zombie forest like that in the Sierra foothills where growth of established trees has fully stalled and new ones cannot sprout."

Cal Fire manages 14 state-owned forests totaling 85,000 acres and logs trees in Jackson Demonstration State Forest to fund operations. The agency holds approval power over private-land logging. Trees are roughly half carbon by dry weight, and coastal redwood forests store vast carbon for millennia if undisturbed. Logging and milling emit half a tree's carbon immediately and put the remainder into short-lived lumber that decays. Cal Fire's models underestimate emissions and overestimate regrowth while ignoring climate-driven regrowth limits and wildfire risks. Global forest growth is slowing, risking forests that cannot regenerate.

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