Cost-share funding on hold

Chris Rowney

State law requires that all revenue derived from the sale of forest products from the State Forests be deposited in the Forest Resources Improvement Fund (FRIF) (PRC 4799). State law also identifies the purposes for which FRIF may be expended. These specific purposes are:

1. The California Forest Improvement Program (CFIP) for assisting non-industrial landowners in improving their timberlands
2. Urban forestry programs
3. Wood energy programs (e.g. biomass)
4. State Forest System operating costs
5. Forest pest research and management (e.g. pine pitch canker, sudden oak death)
6. State nurseries programs for restocking burned areas and timberland improvement
7. Costs associated with administering the Forest Practice Act

Over the years, the Legislature has also directed FRIF funds to other purposes such as the North Coast Watershed Assessment Program (NCWAP), a multi-agency effort for assisting landowners in cumulative impact assessment. This program is coordinated by the CDF Fire and Resource Assessment Program (FRAP).

Since its acquisition by the state in 1946, Jackson Demonstration State Forest (JDSF) has shown significant increases in growth rate and standing timber inventory. As a result of CDF¹s conservative management practices, harvest volumes on the 50,000 acre parcel have been maintained at a level lower than growth in order to grow bigger, older trees, restore healthy riparian zones, provide recreation, and enhance timber inventory. The harvest leveled out in 1986 when the JDSF management plan called for a 5-year average annual harvest of approximately 29 million board feet (MMBF), compared to the annual growth of between 55–60 MMBF.

In the past two decades, the stumpage value of timber (i.e. the value of standing timber as sold) has also generally increased. But stumpage value varies with the timber market, which is related to the housing market and global timber supplies. This means that the net revenue from timber sales to FRIF can and does fluctuate from year to year.

Earlier this year, a lawsuit was filed alleging that operations on JDSF were not in compliance with a 1986 Board of Forestry and Fire Protection policy which required that management plans be ³maintained current.² The Board has since revised the policy to require that management plans be reviewed every five years, and to permit timber harvesting during the period of updating the management plan, since harvest plans comply with (and in fact generally exceed) the Forest Practice Rules that are current at the time.

In response to the lawsuit, the Superior Court issued an injunction which stopped timber sales at JDSF until the new management plan is approved. As a result, revenue has stopped flowing into the FRIF for at least Fiscal Year 01/02.

Because of the injunction, many important functions of FRIF-funded programs must be severely curtailed. These include CFIP grants, which are one of the most successful programs for restoring California¹s understocked, non-industrial forestlands.

Meanwhile, CDF continues work on updating the JDSF Management Plan (see http://www.fire.ca.gov). CDF¹s public participation schedule anticipates that the new JDSF management plan will be ready for approval by the middle of next year. Assuming no further legal challenges, CDF hopes to resume sustainable harvesting and demonstration projects that will help stabilize FRIF funded programs for FY 02/03.

Editor¹s Note: Due to a backlog of previously approved projects, there are no funds available for new projects for the following programs this year: Forest Stewardship Program (FSP), California Forest Improvement Program (CFIP), and the Stewardship Incentive Program (SIP). For more information on the status and availability of cost-share programs for forestland owners, call Heather Morrison at the California Forest Stewardship Helpline, 1-800-PET-TREE.