The primary legislation supporting Weed is the
California Forestry Revitalization Act (CFRA)
Protecting Our Forests from Catastrophic Wildfire Through Sustainable Management, Community Partnership, and Seven-Generation Stewardship
Initiative Measure for the November 2028 General Election Ballot
California's Forest Crisis
California's forests are in crisis. Decades of fire suppression have created forest conditions that never existed historically—dense, overcrowded stands that burn with unprecedented intensity, destroying communities, fouling our air, and devastating ecosystems that took centuries to develop.
By the Numbers
Statistic Meaning 172+ Million Trees died 2010-2023 from drought, beetles & disease 400+ trees/acre Current density in many forests (vs. 40-80 historically) $3+ Billion Annual wildfire suppression costs in recent years 57% Of CA forestland is federal—needing state partnership
"The forests that shade our streams, shelter our wildlife, filter our air, and store our water were entrusted to us by those who came before. We hold them in trust for our children, their children, and the generations that follow."
— From the CFRA Preamble: The Stewardship Covenant
The Regulatory Barrier
While our forests burn, the regulatory framework meant to protect them has become so burdensome that it prevents the very management activities necessary for forest health. Timber Harvest Plans can cost over $30,000 and take more than a year to process—even for basic fuel reduction projects. Small landowners who want to protect their property and community often cannot afford or navigate this system.
The Infrastructure Collapse
California has lost the vast majority of its sawmill and wood processing capacity over the past four decades. Without markets for the material removed during forest health treatments, every tree removed becomes a cost rather than a revenue source. This makes treatment economically impossible on millions of acres—leaving them as ticking time bombs of hazardous fuel.
The CFRA Solution
The California Forestry Revitalization Act is a comprehensive, science-based approach to restoring forest health while protecting the environment, supporting rural communities, and preparing California for a future of increased fire risk.
The CFRA does not eliminate environmental protections—it strengthens them. Projects that qualify for streamlined permitting must meet Enhanced Environmental Standards that exceed current baseline requirements. The CFRA recognizes that catastrophic wildfire is the greatest near-term threat to California's forests, and that preventing it requires removing regulatory barriers while maintaining rigorous standards.
A Seven-Generation Commitment
The CFRA is not about quarterly profits or short-term thinking. It establishes a new covenant between Californians and their forests—a commitment to active stewardship, sustainable management, and intergenerational responsibility. Our goal is to leave our children, their children, and the generations that follow forests of beauty, biodiversity, and resilience rather than landscapes of ash and devastation.
Key Provisions
📋 Streamlined Permitting
Creates new pathways for forest health projects with clear timelines: 15-day notice for exempted projects, 45-day review for Environmentally Excellent Timber Plans. Reduces costs for small landowners by up to 75%.
🏭 Mill Revitalization
Establishes Green Industrial Zones with streamlined permitting for timber processing facilities. Protects legacy mill sites from being blocked by later residential encroachment. Creates ministerial (by-right) approval for qualifying facilities.
🤝 Federal Partnership
Creates the California Federal Forest Restoration Authority (CFFRA) to work cooperatively on federal lands through Good Neighbor Authority. Establishes a NEPA Strike Team to help federal agencies complete environmental reviews faster.
💰 Fiscal Incentives
100% sales tax exclusion on timber processing equipment
Employment credits up to $37,000 per employee over five years
Timber yield tax returned to counties for local infrastructure
🌿 Enhanced Environmental Standards
Larger watercourse buffers than current law (150 ft vs ~100 ft for Class I)
Stronger slope restrictions
Mandatory 3-year monitoring
Carbon storage accounting required
🏆 Certified Stewardship
Creates recognition for landowners with proven track records of sustainable management. Certified Stewards receive priority processing, automatic fee reductions, and serve as models for CAL FIRE outreach.
🪶 Tribal Consultation
Requires meaningful consultation with California Native American tribes on federal land projects. Incorporates traditional ecological knowledge. Enables co-management agreements where tribal capacity and interest exist.
📊 Accountability
Creates Forestry Revitalization Oversight Commission with diverse stakeholder representation. Requires quarterly public reporting on permits, acres treated, and outcomes. Includes 15-year sunset with mandatory review.
Who Benefits from the CFRA?
👨🌾 Small Farmers & Ranchers
Fee reductions up to 75%, simplified notice procedures, recognition for proven stewardship practices
🌲 Forest Landowners
Faster permitting, reduced costs, restored markets for forest products, Certified Stewardship designation
👷 Rural Workers
Good-paying jobs in restored timber industry, employment credits require 150% minimum wage, workforce training funded
🏘️ Mountain Communities
Reduced wildfire risk, faster fuel reduction around homes, economic revitalization in forest-dependent regions
🦌 Wildlife
Restored habitat through reduced catastrophic fire, enhanced watercourse protections, heterogeneous forest structure
🏛️ California Taxpayers
Reduced wildfire suppression costs, self-sustaining revolving fund design, accountability and oversight provisions
🪶 Native American Tribes
Board representation, meaningful consultation requirements, traditional ecological knowledge incorporated, co-management opportunities
👶 Future Generations
Forests restored to health and resilience, cleaner air, protected watersheds, natural heritage preserved
Strong Environmental Protections
The CFRA is not a rollback of environmental protections. It recognizes that overly dense forests are not healthy forests, and that catastrophic wildfire is the greatest near-term threat to California's forest ecosystems, wildlife habitat, air quality, water resources, and biodiversity.
What's Protected:
✓ Enhanced Watercourse Buffers: Class I watercourses get 150-foot no-harvest buffers (vs. ~100 ft baseline) with 300-foot limited-operation zones. Class II streams get 100-foot no-harvest buffers.
✓ Endangered Species Protection: Full compliance with federal and California Endangered Species Acts. No take authorized without federal permits. Consistency determination process preserved.
✓ Water Quality Standards: Full compliance with Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act and federal Clean Water Act. TMDLs and waste discharge requirements remain in effect.
✓ Sustained Yield Requirements: Harvest cannot exceed growth over any rolling 10-year period, except for forest health restoration to historical conditions.
✓ Exclusion Zones: No streamlined permitting in Late Successional Reserves, Wilderness Areas, Research Natural Areas, or designated critical habitat for listed species.
✓ Professional Oversight: All qualifying projects must be designed or supervised by Registered Professional Foresters—state-licensed professionals subject to disciplinary action.
✓ Enforcement: Civil penalties up to $10,000/acre for fraudulent exemption claims. Misdemeanor charges for false statements. Revocation of streamlined eligibility for noncompliance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the CFRA weaken CEQA?
No. The CFRA confirms that the Timber Harvest Plan process is functionally equivalent to CEQA review (as certified since 1976) and creates categorical exemptions for forest health projects that meet Enhanced Environmental Standards—similar to the exemptions recently enacted for housing projects. The Legislature has previously created CEQA exemptions for sports arenas; the CFRA applies the same logic to critical wildfire defense infrastructure.
Will this allow clearcutting?
No. Clearcutting is explicitly excluded from all streamlined permitting pathways. The CFRA focuses on forest health treatments—thinning from below, ladder fuel removal, and restoration to historical forest conditions (60-80 trees per acre, not zero trees).
How does this work on federal lands?
The CFRA creates the California Federal Forest Restoration Authority (CFFRA) to work cooperatively with federal agencies through Good Neighbor Authority—a federal program that lets states assist with forest management on federal lands. The state cannot order federal agencies to do anything; this is a partnership, not a takeover. All NEPA decisions remain with federal agencies.
What about endangered species like spotted owls?
The CFRA fully preserves federal and state Endangered Species Act protections. No "take" of listed species is authorized without federal permits. Projects in designated critical habitat are excluded from streamlined permitting. The CFRA recognizes that catastrophic wildfire is a far greater threat to owl habitat than carefully managed forest health treatments.
How much will this cost taxpayers?
Initial appropriations total $100 million. Tax credits and exclusions are estimated at ~$100 million annually when fully phased in. However, California currently spends over $3 billion annually on wildfire suppression. Even modest reductions in catastrophic fire incidence would save far more than the program costs. The Federal Forest Revolving Fund is designed to become self-sustaining through timber sale receipts.
Is this constitutional?
Yes. The CFRA has been drafted to comply with California's single-subject rule, Proposition 98 school funding guarantees, and federal supremacy requirements. It includes comprehensive severability provisions so that if any portion is challenged, the remainder continues in effect.
What's the timeline?
The CFRA targets the November 2028 General Election ballot. If approved by voters, it takes effect January 1, 2029. Emergency regulations must be adopted within 180 days, with the CFFRA operational within 270 days.
Take Action
California's forests need your voice. Sign our petition to show support, volunteer for the campaign, or help spread the word about the CFRA.
[Sign the Petition] | [Download the Full Initiative] | [Volunteer] | [Donate]
"We act today so that those who come after us may inherit forests of beauty, biodiversity, and resilience rather than landscapes of ash and devastation."
California Forestry Revitalization Act Campaign
Contact: info@CAForestryAct.org
This document provides general information about the proposed California Forestry Revitalization Act. Official ballot initiative language will be finalized following Attorney General title and summary review.
© 2025 CFRA Campaign Committee
Main Street Small Business & Tax Fairness Act
which explicitly targets the economic challenges of the region.
Targeted Regional Status: The bill explicitly lists Siskiyou County (where Weed is located) as a "Designated Region" for specific federal investment due to high costs of living and economic needs.
Main Street Revitalization: It creates a Main Street Tax Credit providing a 20% credit for expenses related to facade improvements, ADA accessibility, and historic preservation in downtown districts .
Small Business Support: It authorizes Regional Revolving Loan Funds specifically for small businesses in designated regions like Siskiyou County, with up to 80% federal share for distressed counties .
Outdoor Recreation Grants: It establishes competitive grants for outdoor recreation infrastructure, such as trails, campgrounds, and visitor facilities, which would support the tourism economy in Weed .
Wildfire Insurance & Safety:
The Rural Connectivity & Fire Safety Act
directly helps wildfire-prone rural communities like Weed by establishing a Fire Safety Reinsurance Facility to ensure homeowner insurance availability for "hardened homes" and funding "Rural Resilience Grants" to ensure cell towers have 72 hours of backup power during shutoffs.
Six Environmental Myths
These six myths have been driving the “SAVE THE PLANET!” environmentalists for decades now. It has NEVER been “SAVE THE PLANET!” It has ALWAYS been “SAVE THE HUMANS!” The planet will be fine with or without us. It created us and it will eventually move on from us until the sun goes nova. Now these same self righteous Environmentalists have become what they detest, superfunded corporations hiding behind the thin veneer of “We’re Non-Profit” as if that gives them some sort of moral authority over the rest of us and the for profit corporations. They have become billion dollar corporations in their own right who now squeeze out individual families and the rest of us caught in between the two in their war against For Profit corporations who are the real environmental extractors for short term profit for their investors. The Non Profit Environmental organizations who close off our natural reserves to keep them “pristine” now do as much ecological damage to the planet by forcing us to look elsewhere for our raw materials thereby causing OTHER countries to damage their ecosystems for our needs as well as polluting the plant with all those transportation costs. They are just as bad as the For Profit corporations who clear cut our forests for short term profits. Both the For Profit and Non Profit Corporations involved with our natural resources have caused the Climate Change that is now beginning to ravage our food supplies (less arable land and increasing pests) and shelter supplies (wildfires that burn our timber and pests that destroy our healthy trees).
DON’T BELIEVE THE LIES THEY TELL!
False Impression 1: Humans as Separate from Nature
The Myth: The prevailing environmental orthodoxy, often termed the "Pristine Myth," posits that nature is only truly "natural" when it is devoid of human influence. This view frames human activity—specifically agriculture—as a contamination of the wilderness. The Reality: Humans as Keystone Species. Scientific research in the Central Hardwood Region and California oak savannas demonstrates that humans have functioned as a "keystone species" for millennia.
Fire & Disturbance: Indigenous peoples and early settlers actively managed landscapes through the use of fire to maintain "early successional habitats"—open meadows, grasslands, and oak woodlands. These habitats support specific wildlife (e.g., deer, elk, certain bird species) that decline when forests close in.
Loss of Diversity: Removing humans does not return the land to a stable "Eden." Instead, it often leads to a monoculture of dense, shade-tolerant vegetation or invasive scrub (like the coyote brush at Point Reyes) that suffocates the biodiversity associated with open, managed landscapes. The "wild" look of Point Reyes in 1962 was actually a human-created artifact; removing the creator destroys the creation.
False Impression 2: Adaptation is Natural (for animals) but Unnatural (for humans)
The Myth: When a tule elk adapts to a new range, it is celebrated as "evolution" or "rewilding." When a rancher adapts the landscape (e.g., creating stock ponds, managing pasture) to sustain a herd, it is condemned as "destruction." The Reality: Co-Evolution of Working Landscapes. Agroecological studies show that multi-functional landscapes—where agriculture and wildlands coexist—often support higher biodiversity than isolated protected areas.
The Matrix: The "agricultural matrix" connects isolated patches of habitat. Ranching lands serve as corridors for wildlife movement that would otherwise be blocked by suburban development.
Hydrology: Ranchers often create and maintain stock ponds that serve as critical breeding grounds for amphibians like the California red-legged frog, especially as natural wetlands dry up due to climate change. The adaptation of the rancher creates a "biological carpet" that retains water in the landscape longer than unmanaged, eroded soil.
False Impression 3: Extinction is the Natural Order (except when we cause it)
The Myth: Conservation efforts must freeze ecosystems in a specific state to prevent extinction, viewing change as a failure. The Reality: Dynamic Equilibrium vs. Static Preservation. "Fortress Conservation" attempts to arrest the natural flux of ecosystems. However, true resilience requires the ability to adapt to disturbance.
Resilience: Working lands are managed for productivity, which requires maintaining soil health and vegetation cover. This active management often makes these lands more resilient to climate shocks (drought, extreme storms) than unmanaged "wilderness" areas that accumulate massive fuel loads until they suffer catastrophic failure (megafires). The rancher's goal is sustainable yield, which aligns with the avoidance of ecological collapse.
False Impression 4: The Biological Imperative (Only "Wild" Biology Matters)
The Myth: Domesticated animals (cattle, sheep) are "unnatural" intruders that degrade the ecosystem, while "wild" animals (elk) are inherently beneficial. The Reality: Functional Redundancy. In the absence of the Pleistocene megafauna (mammoths, ground sloths, ancient bison) that once roamed California, cattle often perform the necessary ecological function of large herbivores.
Nutrient Cycling: Large grazers cycle nutrients through manure, stimulate grass growth through grazing pressure, and maintain open prairie structures required by raptors and pollinators.
Substitution: Removing cattle from Point Reyes without a sufficient population of native grazers leads to the loss of coastal prairie habitat. The "biological imperative" requires grazing, not necessarily specific species. Cattle can be managed to mimic native herbivory patterns.
False Impression 5: Farmers as Destroyers, Not Protectors
The Myth: Agriculture is inherently extractive and antagonistic to the environment. The Reality: The Agrarian Steward. Wendell Berry’s philosophy of agrarianism provides the counter-argument: the "agrarian mind" is local, intimate, and bound to the health of the watershed.
Incentive Structure: A farmer who intends to pass the land to their children has the supreme incentive to preserve topsoil, water quality, and biodiversity. They are the "eyes on the land."
Contrast with Industry: The "industrial mind"—whether it belongs to a Roseburg executive or a remote NPS administrator—treats the land as an abstraction (a resource to be mined or a park to be visited). This disconnect leads to the kind of negligence seen in the Mill Fire.
False Impression 6: The Necessity of Food/Shelter is Optional
The Myth: We can restrict production in our local environment (e.g., closing mills, ending ranching) without consequences, implying that food and shelter are optional or can be magically sourced elsewhere. The Reality: Outsourcing Environmental Costs. Closing the Weed mill or the Point Reyes ranches does not reduce the global demand for lumber or dairy.
Leakage: It merely shifts production to areas with lower environmental standards or increases the carbon footprint of the goods through transportation.
Ethical Consumption: Local production is the only ethical form of consumption because it forces the community to live with the ecological consequences of its needs. Exporting production while importing goods is a form of environmental colonialism.