The City of Arcata in Humboldt County, California, is in the unique position for a municipality of managing it's own forestland for multiple resource values. Forest lands under City ownership include three small coastal redwood watersheds just east of town and twenty percent of the Jacoby Creek watershed.

Arcata's forests encompass the important headwaters of urban streams that flow into Humboldt Bay and the Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary. Efforts to enhance and maintain healthy forested watershed have a positive effect on downstream water quality and flood hazard reduction on the coastal plain.

Historically, the forests were logged about one hundred years ago and as was typical for that era, large old growth redwood logs were skidded out of the woods directly in the stream channels. This practice tended to alter stream channel morphology a bit!

The City acquired 1200 acres following the logging for water supply purposes and constructed small reservoirs on Jolly Giant, Janes and Campbell Creeks. Currently the watersheds no longer supply the town with drinking water supplies and the forests are managed for multiple-uses, including wildlife, recreation, watershed and timber harvesting. Revenue from timber harvests is used to payoff bonds sold to purchase parkland within the City limits and to fund forest management activities. Annual cuts have averaged 1.8 million board feet per year for the past ten years.

A forest advisory committee appointed by the City Council includes a fisheries biologist (Jerry Barnes U.S.F.S. Eureka) and a geologist/hydrologist (Danny Hagans Redwood N.P.) who provide technical advice and management direction on timber harvests, watershed restoration efforts, and research.

Watershed management guidelines have included wide streamside buffers, outsloped and rocked roads with rolling dips, and extensive ripping of compacted landings, skid trails and temporary roads to facilitate infiltration. Debris jams, poor road crossings and other past problems have been treated in conjunction with timber harvests.

Downstream, below the forest margin in urban areas, watershed awareness is promoted through a "Stream Care Guide" for streamside property owners, and by labeling inlets to storm drains with the names of the watercourses they flow into. A citizens task force has been appointed by the City Council to prepare a master plan for the urban portion of the streams and to review development plans that have the potential to affect streams.

In the forest areas, attempts are being made to develop monitoring techniques to assess changes in stream morphology, ecology, water quality and riparian habitats. It is hoped that school groups and Humboldt State University will soon become involved in these efforts.