Editor:

As a 30-year professional forester concerned about the board of supervisors' policies on forestry, I support Steve Madrone.

Steve is a professional in natural resource and forestry issues, starting out as a tree planter and pre-commercial thinning operator, and later as a lead at Redwood Community Action Agency on the Hammond Trail. Steve can balance competing interests of real estate developers who want to maximize residential development, landowners who want to maintain forest productivity and a community that wants a healthy and accessible natural environment.

Now that the General Plan has made it easier to develop next to streams, we need someone on the board of supervisors who can articulate how to protect downstream water quality and fisheries. I'm confident that Steve will want to promote a sustainable natural resource economy while protecting our most valuable and vulnerable landscapes (for example, the McKinleyville Community Forest). Please join me and vote for Steve Madrone.

Greg Blomstrom, Fieldbrook

Editor:

Steve Madrone and Ryan Sundberg sparred in Willow Creek over the issue of healthcare, May 2, as follows:

 Sundberg could not support the Healthy California Act (Senate Bill 562) because he "didn't have enough information and did not know how it would be funded." It is known, however, that the board of supervisors received a complete package about the bill last November but was unready to discuss it when it recently came onto their agenda. (See the board in action: https://youtu.be/8qesUqbcYPQ.

 As for funding, please Google "S.B. 562, Pollin Report" — the only professional assessment of funding done to date. Funding must be done in the Assembly, but first the bill must be un-shelved to be completed. Our job on the local level is to pressure our legislators to summon the political will to do it.

 Madrone supports moving S.B. 562 forward and, unlike his opponent, takes no corporate donations.

 Patty Harvey, Willow Creek

Editor:

Steve Madrone received a master's degree in watershed management from HSU and has worked with the Mattole Salmon Group (executive director), the Trinidad Bay Watershed Council, the California Urban Creeks Council and the National Network of Forest Practitioners. At Redwood Community Action Agency, as the natural resources director, Steve was instrumental in moving the Hammond Trail forward from concept to reality. Steve brought about $20 million into our economy while working with these agencies.

Steve has earned recognition and awards from the Salmonid Restoration Federation, the Alliance for Sustainable Jobs and the Environment, and the Humboldt Chapter of the American Fisheries Society. Currently, Steve is a lecturer in forestry and watershed management at HSU.

Steve's diligent attention to political decision making is noteworthy. His knowledge of the county's General Plan, the coastal and harbor commissions' deliberations, and McKinleyville's activities is extraordinary.

I encourage you to vote for Madrone. www.votemadrone.com.

Linda Doerflinger, McKinleyville