Jackson Demonstration State Forest is a public

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

Mendocino County, California Mendocino County (; ''Mendocino'', Spanish language, Spanish for "of Antonio de Mendoza, Mendoza") is a County (United States), county located on the North Coast (California), North Coast of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United S ...

managed by the

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, colloquially known as CAL FIRE, is the fire department of the California Natural Resources Agency in the U.S. state of California. It is responsible for fire protection in various area ...

. It is the largest demonstration

operated by the State of California. The forest land is located along California State Highway 20 between Willits and the coastal city of

Fort Bragg Fort Bragg (formerly Fort Liberty from 2023–2025) is a United States Army, U.S. Army Military base, military installation located in North Carolina. It ranks among the largest military bases in the world by population, with more than 52,000 m ...

. It is named after Jacob Green Jackson, founder of Caspar Lumber Company, which formerly owned the land. The forest holds sacred value as an ancestral home and ceremonial site for the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians. The that make up the forest were purchased in 1947 and the demonstration forest was created in 1949.

Coast redwood ''Sequoia sempervirens'' ()''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995: 606–607 is the sole living species of the genus '' Sequoia'' in the cypress family Cupressaceae (formerly treated in Taxodiaceae). Common names include coast redwood, coast ...

is the most common type of tree in the forest, but there is also

Douglas fir The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is the tallest tree in the Pinaceae family. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Or ...

grand fir ''Abies grandis'' (grand fir, giant fir, lowland white fir, great silver fir, western white fir, Vancouver fir, or Oregon fir) is a fir native to northwestern North America, occurring at altitudes of sea level to . It is a major constituent of t ...

, hemlock,

bishop pine ''Pinus muricata'', the bishop pine, is a pine with a very restricted range: mostly in California, including several offshore Channel Islands, and a few locations in Baja California, Mexico. Stands of Bishop Pine are also found in Point Reyes Nat ...

tanoak ''Notholithocarpus densiflorus'', commonly known as the tanoak or tanbark-oak, is a broadleaf tree in the family Fagaceae, and the type species of the genus ''Notholithocarpus''. It is a hardwood tree that is native to the far western United Sta ...

alder Alders are trees of the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus includes about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few species ex ...

, madrone and bay myrtle. The elevation of the land varies from . Precipitation near the coast averages per year, but the average is per year inland. The temperature reaches a low of and a high of . Logging of the area began in 1862, and intense industrial logging has taken place for many decades. There have been several generations of harvests and replantings. The Caspar 500 timber harvest plan sparked opposition around 2020 as it included some very large redwood trees in a near the coastal community of

Caspar Caspar is a masculine given name. It may refer to: People * Caspar (magus), a name traditionally given to one of the Three Magi in the Bible who brought the baby Jesus gifts *Caspar Austa (born 1982), Estonian cyclist *Caspar Badrutt (1848–1904) ...

. The area, heavily used for hiking and

mountain biking Mountain biking (MTB) is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability ...

, is closer to residential areas and public access roads than more remote areas that have been logged in the past.

References

External links

Jackson Demonstration State Forest
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
Campaign to Restore Jackson State Redwood Forest
{{coord, 39, 23, 33, N, 123, 38, 56, W, display=title California state forests Protected areas of Mendocino County, California 1949 establishments in California Protected areas established in 1949