At JDSF, over 22 wildlife species were detected in over ten thousand image captures over the first three months of the study. This research will assist forest managers and policy makers in gaining a better understanding of how these treatments not only affect fuels treatments and forest resilience, but also how they may affect public trust resources.

While a trip into JDSF may feel like we humans are the only mammals in the forest, a new research project utilizing wildlife cameras shows that it is teeming with life! JDSF is initiating a program to incorporate static wildlife cameras (camera-trapping) as a long-term annual monitoring method across the forest. This project will track the diversity and distribution of mammals associated with vegetative structure and composition, and more specifically, evaluate how the mammal community responds to a range of disturbances (e.g. timber harvest, mechanical fuel treatments, prescribed fire, road use, and recreation).

RECREATION: Handlebar View - Mountain Bike Riding on the SweetPea Trail 

Last month we looked at how the SweetPea Trail was rebuilt in collaboration with the Mendocino Coast Cyclists. This month we are riding the trail! Check out the video for a preview of the trail as well as its history. To learn more about multiuse trails at JDSF, view the link below.

Have you ever wondered how coastal redwood ecosystems will react to the rapidly changing climate conditions? Is there anything we can pro-actively do to prepare? JDSF in collaboration with Dr. Sarah Bisbing, University of Nevada, Reno, is embarking on a multi-decade study to test four forest treatment (silvicultural) prescriptions that will be replicated and monitored on JDSF and discussions are already under way to expand the study north and south across the redwood range.

The final scheduled Jackson Advisory Group (JAG) meeting for 2023 is Wednesday, November 15 at the First Presbyterian Church in Fort Bragg starting at 9 AM. An agenda will be posted on the JDSF website and JDSF Facebook at least 10-days prior to the meeting. A field tour will follow the seated part of the meeting.

Join JDSF and University of California Cooperative Extension staff for the second in a series of field conversations about continual improvement at JDSF. The concept of Adaptive Management has been around since the late 1970s. It has been much debated and much improved, along the way gaining alternative names such as course correction, iteration, feedback loops, and complexity aware design. Each adaptive management tour will focus on a different aspect of JDSF management that has received renewed focus as part of the CAL FIRE’s Modernization Vision.

The second tour in this series will be on Friday, November 3, from 10 AM - 2 PM and will focus on Prescribed Fire Research happening here at JDSF. We will be visiting two prescribed burns that took place last fall and winter, and then touring the potential Pyrosilviculture THP which will receive beneficial fire in the Fall of 2024. Participants will learn about pre, during, and post-fire monitoring protocols which allow for the continual refinement of burn prescriptions for the coast redwood forest.

Due to forecasted rain and onset of the wet season, effective immediately, roads within Jackson Demonstration State Forest (JDSF) will be closed to unauthorized public vehicular traffic. This seasonal closure protects forest roads from damage during wet weather. Please do not drive on roads that are wet and have soft surfaces, even if they are not formally closed. Road and stream damage can occur from rutting and erosion. It is not safe to drive on roads with slippery surfaces. Please help us protect your forest resources.

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