The Community Forest represents many different interests who all have something in common — the landscape and its resources that we care about — “the commons.” It is a place to go for a hike or a bike ride. There are birds to watch and flowers to photograph. There is the network of streams that drain into Weaver Creek, providing water for Weaverville, habitat for salmon and places for kids to cool off in summer. There are pine and fir forests and oak woodlands, each providing important habitat for wildlife. There is a wealth of cultural and historical resources, much of which can be visited on a network of trails.

There are traditional uses and management methods most of us don’t know about that could and should be included in the use of these common lands. Managing the forest for the long term, with an eye to making it healthier and reducing its fuel load, makes adjacent areas safer and provides firewood for the community. Any timber that is harvested generates funding for future improvements to the community forest.  Communities around the world have long traditions of providing a “commons,” lands held by the community for use by the community. An essay was written in 1968 called “The Tragedy of the Commons.” In essence it stated the commons could not be sustained because it is human nature to overuse natural resources. It explained our nation’s lands, waters and air needed to be protected from overuse and abuse. Water and air pollution was evident almost everywhere. The Cuyahoga River in Ohio caught fire. Air around our cities was becoming dense with smog. National policies were needed and were adopted to help protect these resources — our nation’s “commons.”

I see Weaverville Community Forest as the community’s commons and I perceive great opportunity in the commons — not the tragic outcomes envisioned in that 1968 essay. I see people coming together to find ways to help manage these federal lands for the common good – to use these resources with an eye to the future and to each other’s needs. I am encouraged by our experience so far. Other communities in Trinity County and throughout northern California are taking an interest in the Weaverville Community Forest as a model for building partnerships to manage their own shared landscape. I think the reason we were selected to receive the Partners in Conservation Award was because so many of you have seen the opportunity of the commons.