Soquel Demonstration State Forest

Project Partners

CAL FIRE

Overview of Actions

ARC Forestry supported Soquel Demonstration State Forest timber harvesting and forest health treatments under a CAL FIRE Forest Health Grant. The complexities of implementing two distinct treatment prescriptions by two contractors at the same time was navigated with thorough communication, both verbally and visually with appropriate flagging and operational maps, and sufficient on-site support and supervision. Treatments resulted in reduced forest densities to promote the health and vigor of coastal redwoods and hardwoods that have been overtaken by Douglas-fir.

ARC Forestry supported the development of treatment specifications for contracts, conducted bid tours, evaluated bids, supported contractor selection, developed ARC Field Maps for operations, conducted project layout and tree marking for timber harvesting, and supervised treatment implementation, including winter period monitoring.

Additionally, ARC Forestry supports the CAL FIRE Foresters at the Soquel Demonstration Forest for on-call field and operational support related to ongoing forest management on the property.

Treatment Status

Over 250 acres of timber harvesting and forest health treatments complete. This is the first of its kind treatment in the Santa Cruz Mountains to conduct a timber harvest followed by forest health treatments under a CAL FIRE Forest Health Grant that targeted commercial and noncommercial trees to reduce forest densities.

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LOCATION

Santa Cruz, CA

TREATMENT ATTRIBUTES

Forest Health Fuels Reduction
Forest Density Reduction/ Large Tree Restoration
Roadside Treatments
Hazard Tree Removal

PROJECT COMPONENTS

Documentation

Archaeological Survey Reports – developed and approved
Vegetation Treatment Specifications – developed
Contract and Request for Bid – development and support

Field & Operations

Operational layout and mapping completed
Conducted permit compliance on vegetation treatment implementation

STAFF INVOLVED

David Van Lennep, Chief Forester of Operations – direction, operational planning, contracting, and supervision
Shelby Kranich, Director of Forest Resilience – direction, project layout and marking
Chloe Knowd, Senior Associate Forester – project layout and marking, mapping, operational planning, and operational supervision
Charlie Hillis, Assistant Forester III – project layout and marking, mapping, and operational supervision
Heath Hooper, Assistant Forester II – mapping and operational supervision
Daniel Auten, Lead Forestry Technician – marking trees, field verification, and layout
Nolan Hayes, Lead Forestry Technician – marking trees, field verification, and layout