John Liu when talking about this area has explained, naturally, the moisture from the ocean comes in to the coastal forest. That moisture gets held in the micro-ecosystem there. Without the proper canopy and understory, the sun beats down on the earth and radiates back up, creating more heat, and displacing the moisture that would otherwise be trapped here by the forests.
When this happens, the climate temperature can increase, and the health of the soil can degrade. Too much UV on the soil kills the microorganisms that live there. The lack of moisture that would have been in the air, has the dead and old tree materials in the area dry out. The fires that come can travel further and faster, because there is not as much live material that is moist enough to stop it. Strange phenomena like fire tornadoes occur, and other things like this. We are seeking to find the source of this drier, hotter, fire prone environment, and bring back the missing link that would keep our ecosystem thriving.
Our first mission is to engage in controlled burns that can bring back the natural healing elements of forest fires, removing old brush and invigorating the soil.
Our next mission is to bring back our canopy and understory to the coast, and bring back the moisture to the area.
We know that the health of this area requires the health of the river, and the health of the forest. We want to see by 2027 a shift back to higher rainfall levels, higher river levels and flow, increase in steelhead population, and return of our moisture rich micro-climate.
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