April 24th 2015

April 24, 2015 Mendocino County Board of Supervisors 501 Low Gap Road, Room 1010 Ukiah, CA 95482 Re: April 21, 2015 Board of Supervisors Meeting Agenda Item #6c, Discussion Regarding Fire Danger by Dead Standing Timber on Forest Lands Chair Brown and Members of the Board, Mendocino Redwood Company (MRC) would like to thank you for the time dedicated to this subject during the Board of Supervisors Meeting earlier this week. Our goal is and has been to restore former conifer forests. Since we began operations in 1998 numerous groups have come to our forestlands to discuss and provide input on best forest management practices. It is in this light we fully support a balanced working group to address the topic of potential fire hazards associated with the treatment of hardwoods. We will do exactly what we promised at the close of Tuesday’s meeting, to cooperate in every way to ensure the working group’s success. 1. In the coming weeks MRC will be in contact with the Mendocino County Fire Safe Council, Cal Fire, local Fire Chiefs, and other interested members of the public to offer our assistance in the formulation of this working group and its mission. 2. If helpful, we can suggest individuals/organizations with expertise in this field whose participation would help to inform the discussion. We will provide access to our lands to allow for in-the-field observation. 3. We are also willing to support facilitation so that goals and objectives can be established promptly. We are keenly interested in evaluating the potential of fire hazards in areas of treated hardwoods. 4. As recommendations emerge, MRC will be willing to implement various suggested treatments on our lands to assess efficacy, associated costs and any resulting modifications of the recommendations that might emerge. 5. We are also available, if asked, to help develop a proposed plan of work to help the working group get up and running very promptly. At completion of this process, we would expect that representatives of this working group will report back to the Board of Supervisors on the outcome of their work with any recommendations. We sincerely believe it is in the public’s interest and MRC’s to address this subject as soon as practical. Thank you again for the time spent on this subject. Sincerely, Michael E. Jani President and Chief Forester Mendocino Redwood Company Post Office Box 996, Ukiah, CA 95482 – Tel. (707) 463-5110 mrc.com Cc: Jim Mastin, President, Mendocino County Fire Safe Council Chris Rowney, Unit Chief, Cal Fire Other Interested Parties