Sustainable Timber Management
Preservation Ranch's vision of sustainable forestry will help preserve Sonoma County's rural heritage for generations to come. Timber harvesting has been an important activity in Sonoma County for many years, but past aggressive logging practices have depleted the timber resource and made much of the land unable to sustain itself economically. The Preservation Ranch proposal will guarantee the land's rural uses forever, by planting high value vineyards and by implementing sustainable timber management practices. This "One Forest" plan protects and conserves the timber resource while allowing the land to support itself.
Sustainable forestry at Preservation Ranch will have two important policies and protections:
- "Sustained yield" which limits harvesting to be consistent with environmental protections and to achieve a balance between tree growth and harvest long term.
- "Uneven aged tree management" which establishes a well-stocked mix of old and young trees with harvests only of individual or small groups of trees.
Sustainable foresty and the One Forest plan will have many benefits:
- Clear cutting of timber, with its significant environmental impacts, will be prohibited forever.
- Sonoma County's timber resource will be expanded, supporting local jobs and reducing reliance on outside sources of lumber.
- Wildlife habitat will be improved with more ecologically complex forests and more large trees.
- Fire hazard will be reduced with active forest management.
- Carbon storage will be improved helping in the fight against global warming.
- The beauty of the forest will be improved.
- Special protection zones will be created for streams.
- Special protection zones will be created for large trees.
Project Updates
Protection of Watercourses
EIR scoping results in further refinement and improvement of project by reducing environmental impacts - all previously proposed farming where there are Class III watercourses now to be eliminated from proposal