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Abstract
There are approximately 513,000 acres of coniferous forests and oak woodlands in Sonoma County, California, situated about 50 miles north of San Francisco. Most of the oak woodland, and over 68 percent (132,000 acres) of the coniferous forestland, is in private ownerships of 50 acres and less. These forests are unique, with 10 species of true oak and 19 species of conifer in the county. While Sonoma's forests provide a suite of benefits, factors create pressure to parcelize, convert to viticulture, and fragment the forest ecosystem. In order to address these threats, an ad-hoc committee created the Sonoma County Forest Conservation Working Group (Working Group). The Working Group provides information and resources to forest landowners with the goal of protecting the health and long-term tenure of forests and woodlands. Lessons learned highlight landowners' interest in fire and forest management, but also a lack of wildland and forest management knowledge, a reluctance to spend money, and institutional gaps that ultimately increase fire danger and ecosystem fragmentation. This experience demonstrates the importance of our mission, 'Protecting Forests Across Landscapes and Through Generations.'
Parent Publication
Citation
Euphrat, Frederick D.; Swain, Steven; Swanhuyser, Dee; Butler, Dee; Chesnut, Amy; Batchelder, Kim; Safford, Caerleon; Cummungs, Earle. 2012. Protecting forests across landscapes and through generations: the Sonoma County Forest Conservation Working Group. In: Standiford, Richard B.; Weller, Theodore J.; Piirto, Douglas D.; Stuart, John D., tech. coords. Proceedings of coast redwood forests in a changing California: A symposium for scientists and managers. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-238. Albany, CA: Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. pp. 603-609.
