June 6th 2012

Ukiah Daily Journal 

June 6, 2012

By Julie Bawcom

On May 17 a group of foresters, loggers, two sheriff deputies and other resource professionals gathered along Miller Ridge at 12-mile along the Masonite logging road to honor Jack Sweeley, 85, a long-time advocate of the working forests in Mendocino County.

Jack Sweeley has worked as a forester and after retirement in forest security as a reserve officer, he has roamed the forests for 62 years and remembers with clarity locations, place names and landmarks like no other person still alive today.

Jack grew up in Sonora near the Stanislaus National Forest where his dad worked for the U.S. Forest Service. In 1950 Jack graduated from the UC Berkeley School of Forestry, married his childhood friend Margaret and began working for the Masonite Corporation in their Ukiah forestry division.

He actually met Margaret in grammar school and in high school they both played in the school band; Margaret played Cello and Jack Violin.

"When the high school gave out music awards our senior year we both got one."

Jack enlisted in the Army Air Corps and served for two years while Margaret went to Stanford University.

Foresters with the Mendocino Redwood Co., who now owns the old Masonite properties, surprised Jack by making a plaque and mounting it on a boulder at the overlook now named 2

"Jacks Point," the drainage divide between the Russian and Big Rivers with a vista to the southwest of the vast forests of central Mendocino County.

Mendocino Redwood Company president Jim Holmes took Jack for a tour of the Masonite Road stopping at one of Jacks favorite spots Miller Ridge.

Jack suddenly realized something was up when approximately 40 people stood along the turnout as they drove up, including his family; his wife Margaret, daughters Phyllis Mendel and Martha along with her husband Dave Bookout.

Jim Holmes took a few minutes to describe Jacks long list of contributions and how his own father knew Jack, whom he described to his son, and the best forester in Mendocino County.

Sheriff Tom Allman told the crowd how Jack helped locate more illegal grow sites on private timberlands than any other person in recent history and Jack would always claim "follow me, it's only about a quarter of a mile this way," regardless of how far it may have been.

Jack briefly spoke of some of his most memorable days working along the Masonite Road, including the days during the 1964 floods when he was tasked with unplugging dozens of culverts along the road.

Jack was nearly speechless during the presentation, a situation that rarely happens to Jack as he tried to thank everyone present and convey how lucky we all are to work in the beautiful forests of Mendocino County.

Later Jack recounted what he would most like to tell all of his friends and colleges, "To my friends, be sensible and reasonable to neighbors and workers, listen to your neighbors (during the preparation of a Timber Harvesting Plan) and be kind to the land you are on and to the woods workers."

The inscription on the plaque summarizes Jacks commitment and working life nicely, it reads: Spread out before you are the forests overseen by John P. (Jack) Sweeley since 1950. The dedication of this overlook honors Jack's love for these forestlands and his lifelong contributions as a forester, Reserve Deputy Sheriff and Mendocino County Cooperative Aerial Patrol advocate. Jack's Point is established with tremendous admiration and gratitude by Jack's friends and associates, this day May 18, 2012. Beneath this inscription is a quote from Theodore Roosevelt: "Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing."

Everyone attending the dedication agreed it was a well deserved honor and having Jack present to see the unveiling was a special and rare moment. Many came in person to say thank you for a job well done.