All of the main commercial mills involved with the clear-cutting have left the area. 

This is most evident in Fort Bragg where even the prominent mills are leaving their coastal foothold and leaving a big urban gap. 

Gone they are, and it's up to the local citizens to figure out what to do next.

A Sustainable Redwood Forestry ?

Many of us will cringe at the very word.  Did not we take care that 'big timber' lost its right to do clear-cutting the Northern California redwood forests?

Yes we did, and rest assured, most of the main  Northern California Redwood are now under some form of protection and clear-cutting is definitely an issue of the past.

Yet, the status on restoring and re-growing the privately owned Redwoods is in awful disarray.

Restoring some of the privately owned redwood areas is a concern, especially in the coastal range where originally cattle used to clear the seedlings of blueberries and non-indigenous pines.  Those cattle that once protected the redwood seedlings are gone, and now we see some of the forests receding at an alarming pace.

The very area we are talking about is not government protected parkland, but a vast area in private ownership.  Many of these owners are eager to learn how they can assist in restoring and re-growing their land into full blown redwood forests. 

For more information see www.WestPortRanch.org    

The Sosa family hired Studio RMA to create a design that would reflect their ideals.  In primary analysis on the project the Sosa/RMA Development Team decided that it would focus on attracting a new or established non-profit partner, to explore the feasibility of the land trusts goals. 

The concept for the center follows the guidelines stated in the land trust bylaws:  Create a self sustainable, low impact structure that would house educational facilities, offer solutions and pathways to current redwood landowners and a facility that would connect global efforts to conserve bio-diversity and its advocates.

To create a design solution, Studio RMA prime focus was to create an educational facility that would have a structure that would not endanger the current site and its environment.  A meadow locations was found hidden by the coastal hills and not visible from the coast.

The Studio used its SCIP design technique to design the building, then added ample sustainable energy in concert with the local conditions to create a design that would allow for a 'Carbon Neutral' educational facility.

Below some of the renderings.

More Information?

For more information on the West Port Ranch and Studio RMA's involvement in privately owned land preservation / restoration projects contact Robert Mechielsen or Mo Whelan.