HSU Set to Receive 884-Acre Forest

This is a press release from Humboldt State University:

The view from Fickle Hill Road looking into the Jacoby Creek Forest. [Photos provided by the City of Arcata]

Humboldt State University is on the verge of receiving an 884-acre forest near campus, which will be used for research and field experiences. The effort is possible due to a generous donation from R.H. Emmerson & Son LLC, as well as major grants from state and federal agencies.

The plan received a positive review today by the CSU Board of Trustees.

The forest is along Jacoby Creek about eight miles and a 25-minute drive from campus. It borders sections of Arcata’s Jacoby Creek Forest, which is part of the larger community forest, and it encompasses a large portion of the Jacoby Creek watershed. The City of Arcata will also add 83 acres to its portion of the forest.

The area includes extensive stands of second-growth Redwoods as well as old-growth Cedar. It is important habitat for a variety of species including northern spotted owl, bald eagle, Pacific fisher, and red-legged frog, and it is important for the health of downstream species including coho salmon and chinook. Once HSUreceives the property, it will be permanently protected from conversion to any non-forestry uses.

“This is a big moment for Humboldt State University,” said HSU President Lisa Rossbacher. “The new forestland will provide amazing opportunities for our students, while also helping to protect an important watershed. I’m so thankful for everyone who has been involved in making it happen, especially R.H. Emmerson & Son for making a partial donation of the land, and the staff in the City of Arcata.”

Specific academic programs at HSU that are expected to utilize the forest include Geology, Fisheries, Environmental Sciences and Management, Wildlife, Native American Studies, Anthropology, Forestry, Soils, and Recreation Management, among others. The availability of the forest is also expected to help numerous programs better compete for grants and contracts.

After it is formally transferred to HSU, the forestland will be jointly managed through a cooperative agreement with the City of Arcata, which will include sharing fire roads, forest data and monitoring, scientific studies, and public access. Oversight at HSU will be through its College of Natural Resources & Sciences, with support from a Faculty Advisory Committee and a Community Advisory Committee. A tenured faculty member will be designated as the Forest Director.

The new combined forestland owned and protected by Arcata and HSU will cover more than 2,273 contiguous acres of the Jacoby Creek watershed.

Efforts to obtain the land have been underway since 2012, with leadership by the City of Arcata. The City was concerned the land could end up fragmented and converted to non-forest use and negatively affect nearby forestland it has owned since 1944, but it was unable to seek direct ownership of the entire tract of land due to acreage limits on its state forest management permit. HSU faculty were involved in conceiving of the plan for University ownership, as well as assessing the property to determine its value to academic programs.

“I couldn’t be happier about the addition of 83 key acres to the Jacoby Creek Forest,” said Arcata Mayor Sofia Pereira. “The new HSU public forest buffers our City forest from future potentially incompatible uses, and this project gives the City and HSU the opportunity to work as a team on forest management in the upper Jacoby Creek watershed. Preserving our natural resources is so important, and I think this project is a big win for local forest conservation.”

The complex process for acquiring the land involves a partial donation from the private landowner and purchase utilizing a number of grants, including final funding the City expects from the California Wildlife Conservation Board. The City will then grant the property to the University, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2018 or in early 2019.

The property is valued at approximately $6.2 million. Funding includes California Fish & Wildlife Prop 1 for $1,754,000; a pending grant from the Wildlife Conservation Board for $1,725,000; Calfire Climate Investment Fund for $800,000; California Resources Agency for $229,000; and USFWS for $44,000.

The remaining amount, approximately $1.7 million, is a donation from R.H. Emmerson & Son LLC, which currently owns the property.

Maintenance costs for the forest are expected to be minimal. Eventually, the University expects to develop a sustainable harvest plan, which will generate revenue for not only maintenance but for research and projects at the site. Students will be employed to work on projects like wildlife inventory, water quality monitoring, and harvest plans.

Old growth western red cedar on the newly acquired forest.

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14 Comments
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Perspective
Guest
Perspective
5 years ago

How did we get to a 6.2 million dollar value on 884 acres of off grid land, with second growth timber? Bad ass cedar tree.

G-S H
Guest
G-S H
5 years ago
Reply to  Perspective

Just a wee bit inflated. Maybe $3,000,000. Tax scam.

Close to town, set back in the woods......
Guest
Close to town, set back in the woods......
5 years ago
Reply to  G-S H

Not completely if they opened it up to a few dozen big houses. As “Potential Homesteads” or “Potential Recluse” properties that number is a bit low.
That being said: at least the tax scam on this one is on the lower side of scam.

Willie caos- mayhem
Guest
5 years ago

Good read Oliver hope they make good use of what they’ve been given.

Jaekelopterus
Guest
Jaekelopterus
5 years ago

Any use is better than commercial timberland. Beautiful red cedar!

Mr. Bear
Guest
5 years ago
Reply to  Jaekelopterus

Oh, they will be logging it

Shel
Guest
Shel
5 years ago
Reply to  Mr. Bear

That’s what I read. Great, a school that can’t get their funds together to even have a football team and they get handed this? I hear the chainsaws already eps with the price being good for timber.

Joan Dunning
Guest
Joan Dunning
5 years ago

Amazing! What an up-lifting story. Kim, thank you for keeping us all in touch with. the good and the bad….. the arsonists and the preservationists. What a worthy endeavor protection of this forest is and will be in the future. Arcata is a unique creator of examples of successful sustainable forestry…… we should all feel very proud and thankful.

Guest
Guest
Guest
5 years ago

Yup. They complain about lack of housing for their students while acquiring land they will need to maintain. How rational. At least one thing is clear- no matter what it is, the public is required to pay for all bad decisions in perpetuity. How conducive that is to making future self serving acquisitions- remove tax base from the county while requiring the county to provide infrastructure. Makes it so much easier to flip off the Humboldt County populace who has the nerve to want to exist without being in service to the Great Educational/Government Complex.

spankie
Guest
spankie
5 years ago
Reply to  Guest

With Monsanto style forest management , girdle and squirt ?
SMH wonder who is receiving the kickbacks?

Central HumCo
Guest
5 years ago
Reply to  Guest

Excellent!

Farce
Guest
Farce
5 years ago

Glad to hear this! Saw that large tract for sale in upper Jacoby a few years back. Was surprised that no successful growers bought it to protect it ha ha yeah that was so old school. The funding is from out of all of our pockets so it is a bit privileged-community-gets-more style but…I’m glad to see it. Jacoby Creek – like many watersheds here has been getting hammered by infill and development. Just compare images from 20 years ago w/ today and you can see how everybody’s little piece of land combined creates a major and permanent deforestation event. The houses and yards look like the stippling of broad mites on a leaf! And population pressure will only continue- especially near the coast next to Arcata/Eureka. So here is a win for the forest and the bear, mountain lion, birds, lizards, etc. But of course it’s only a stopgap measure…Now can we please get our human population under control?!

Central HumCo
Guest
5 years ago
Reply to  Farce

” . . . human population under control?”

Like, you believe there are too many of us? Along the order of the hive-mind collective, purveyors of nonsense, who’s favorite word is “sustainable?

Reduce population from 7 billion (so “They” say), to 500 mil. Btw, I ‘d say the evildoers are pulling out all stops to keep up the Transparent illusion. Ironically, like an Identi-fiction chip implant can be hacked, this, and whatever the next ‘event’ is, won’t/can’t co-exist with nature’s/universal law, either.

Buckle up.

Mike
Guest
Mike
5 years ago

I know this is grant money but didn’t they cancel the football program because they are broke? It kinda seems like they are only broke when it comes to things they don’t like