Lavina Brooks, a Yurok tribal member, elder, and descendant of the Karuk and Tolowa people posed a pointed question to the panel of Redwood Park conservationists hosted by the local Democratic committee at the Del Norte County Fairgrounds over the weekend.
“I want to know: From your perspective — or if you’re allowed to give your perspective — how big a threat is the current administration to the parks in Del Norte and Humboldt County.”
Brooks’ question articulated a sentiment present in many minds. The redwood forests of this region are home to some of the oldest and tallest trees on the planet. Human beings have a long and passionately protective history with this particular classification of tree, including as a UNESCO World Heritage site — the designation for places on Earth that are recognized as having outstanding universal value to humanity, and have been inscribed to be protected for future generations to appreciate and enjoy.
On March 1, the Trump administration issued an executive order titled “Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production” that set a lot of tree-huggers on edge.
Shelana DeSilva, assistant superintendent for the Redwood State and National Parks, stood up from the table and came forward with the mic.
“We’ve lost around $32 million in funding for Redwoods Rising alone,” she said.
Redwoods Rising is a forest restoration program that seeks to put 70,000 previously harvested acres on a trajectory to old growth conditions.
She admitted that they didn’t know if these funds would come back.
“Trump’s administration has said from the outset that they want to enable American ‘energy dominance’, so everything that you’re reading is really under that sort of mindset or framework” DeSilva said.
“That said, at this point, I don’t see a direct impact to Redwood National and State Parks and our redwood forests,” DeSilva clarified.
DeSilva said she thought the park is under several layers of protective designation that would make them exempt from this executive order.
“Watch. Listen. Contact your legislators. That’s what I’ll say about that,” she said.
“In terms of budget and staffing losses for Redwood National and State Parks, our national park has lost 20 staff members in total. We are waiting to see if several other staff [are] going to be reassigned from Redwood National Park to the Department of the Interior. So, it could be a number larger than 20. That’s [out of] around 70 staff members, so that should give you a picture of what a hit that is. These staff positions are critical.”
DeSilva did caution that our region was not immune from impact, however – noting that Six Rivers and Klamath National Forests are in our backyards and are very much under threat from this executive order.
DeSilva pivoted from hard data and began to differentiate between her personal and professional perspectives, noting that as a state agency representative, she will work with every and any administration.
“This administration has certainly doled out its challenges to me and to my staff. I think everybody needs clean air and clean water and natural places to connect with land. I think that these issues go beyond partisan politics. And I think for me, what I focus on going back to this message of what can each of us individually do in this moment, especially against problems that seem so much larger than us.”
This panel discussion and open Q & A included information from Sal Munoz from Redwood Parks Conservancy and Grant Werschkull from the Smith River Alliance. Audience members and panelists at the event took turns sharing concerns, dispelling rumors, and clarifying the challenges at hand. The event was one in a series of “Coffee and Conversation” events hosted by the Del Norte County Democrats the first Saturday of each month.
The next event is scheduled to take place at 285 L street in Crescent City at 11 a.m. June 7. It will feature a discussion with Mike Lane, CEO of Sutter Coast Hospital, about the potential impact that budget cuts to Medicaid might have on our local healthcare system.
