The Weaverville Community Forest, which is jointly managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Trinity County Resource Conservation District (TCRCD), is 984 acres of excellent timber land, historic and prehistoric resources, recreational uses and high visual quality for the southwest side of Weaverville. The anadromous West Weaver Creek flows through it, and the Forest provides a wildlife corridor between industrial timberlands to the south and residential parcels to the north.

The Forest originally began, in 1999, as community protest against a proposed land exchange by BLM. The Trinity County Board of Supervisors joined with the community in asking BLM to delay the exchange while alternatives were explored. In 2003 the TCRCD Board of Directors decided to take on the project to further explore ways to manage these federally-held lands. In mid-2004, BLM suggested using a new federal tool, Stewardship Contracting, to manage the lands as a community forest.

Using this tool, BLM retains ownership and cooperatively works with the TCRCD, with which it has an excellent working relationship, to manage the forest-based objectives defined by the community. Because of the high level of community involvement between 1999 and 2004, the objectives have long been defined: protecting viewsheds, timber harvesting and products to the local mill, recreation and education, fuels reduction, firewood collection, salmon habitat protection, and invasive weeds eradication. In 2005 a ten-year cooperative agreement between BLM and TCRCD was signed, and the first project will be undertaken in 2006: a forest health project on 200 acres adjacent to a neighborhood. The timber will be sold to the local mill, with firewood collection beginning later in the summer. Funds generated after project costs will be deposited in an account that pays for subsequent projects that meet the objectives of the stewardship agreement and community goals.

For Weaverville and surrounding communities, this unique Forest Stewardship model offers a way to recruit and sustain local involvement in the management of federal lands for local needs and desires by matching the resource needs of federal land managers with the skills of a locally run conservation district. In particular, the Weaverville Community Forest embodies the spirit of Stewardship Contracting, because of its high level of public involvement, broad range of objectives, and diverse interests of the community. The historical model of timber-based economies is changing, as it must, to become an opportunity for multi-use, community-driven forest management that creates and retains living wage jobs in an otherwise economically challenged rural community. This project provides timber for the town mill, educational and historical venues for local and tourist populations, and maintains high visual quality for the town residents. This BLM Stewardship Contract is being closely watched in DC and around the country, because it is the only project that truly embraces the Forest Stewardship concept. TCRCD is subsequently in talks with the US Forest Service to apply the same model to their lands in the Weaverville viewshed, and community forestry advocates around the country are interested in transferring it to other regions.

The Weaverville Community Forest hopes to keep expanding its opportunities by providing community involvement on a number of levels, and by continuing to strengthen the connections between the land and its people.