Symposium Results: Views from the Agency Leadership1
Richard A. Wilson2
My response to this Symposium centers around our
activities at Mountain Home Demonstration State Forest.
We practice multiple use management with an emphasis
on recreation.
A forest requires manipulation. It is not like a corn crop.
Ground disturbance is necessary for giant sequoia regeneration.
How the disturbance occurs is subject to review. Tractor and
fire are both tools that are useful in disturbing the site.
Mountain Home Demonstration State Forest is an
ecosystem of diversity. It is no longer the turf of foresters
alone. We need to involve other resource disciplines. What
goes on under the ground is important. There is much more
involved than just getting trees to grow on the soil.
We are very proud of our work at Mountain Home
Demonstration State Forest. We have preserved the big
trees; we have excellent regeneration; we provide high use
recreation. These benefits are provided through ecosystem
manipulation while incorporating what we have learned from
research projects.
Mountain Home Demonstration State Forest doesn't
represent all the answers on giant sequoia management, but
the public is pleased. We will continue to share our knowledge.
In California we live with four words: fire, flood,
earthquake, and drought. Lightning doesn't call in for a
burning permit or to check if it is a burn day. We need to
reduce fuels in an environmentally safe manner. If we do
not, fire will create some huge clearcuts.
I appreciate the opportunities this Symposium has created
and we look forward to participating in future meetings on
giant sequoia.
1
This paper was presented at the Symposium on Giant Sequoias: Their
Place in the Ecosystem and Society, June 23-25, 1992, Visalia, California.
2
Director, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection,
1416 Ninth Street, P.O. Box 944246, Sacramento, CA 94244-2460.
USDA Forest Service Gen. Tech. Rep.PSW-151. 1994.
149