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 achieve a long term balance between tree growth and harvest.
- "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:
- To create more structurally diverse forests, clearcut harvesting will be prohibited.
- 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 by selective thinning of the dense young trees.
- Carbon storage will be improved helping in the fight against global warming.
- Wider protection zones will be created for fish streams.
- Special management areas will be created to grow large trees that are beneficial to wildlife.
