An Honest Economy for Trinity County
Sixteen thousand people, a million acres of forest, and a river that's been robbed for fifty years
Trinity County is wild, rugged, and remote — most of it is national forest. Weaverville is the county seat, but many residents live in tiny mountain communities scattered across the Trinity Alps. When the timber industry collapsed, Trinity lost its economic engine. Up to 90% of the Trinity River's flow has been diverted away from this watershed for decades, devastating salmon runs and the Hoopa Valley Tribe's fishing economy. Today, residents drive hours for basic services. These three bills bring the jobs back, bring the water back, and build a real future.
78% Federal Land. Zero Economic Plan. Until Now.
Trinity County is 78% federal land — the highest percentage in CA-2. That means the federal government controls what happens to the forests, the rivers, and the economy. When Washington stopped managing the forests, the mills closed. When they diverted 90% of the Trinity River, the salmon collapsed and the Hoopa Valley Tribe lost its fishing economy. Trinity doesn't need another federal program that ignores it. It needs federal legislation written specifically for places like this — with real funding, real jobs, and real water. These three bills deliver that.
American Coastal & Marine Ecosystem Restoration Act
They took 90% of Trinity's water. This bill starts putting it back.
For more than fifty years, the federal government has diverted up to 90% of the Trinity River's flow to the Central Valley. The result? Salmon populations collapsed. The Hoopa Valley Tribe — whose treaty rights depend on a healthy river — lost the fishery that sustained their community for millennia. Water temperatures rose so high that fish literally cook in the river during summer. This bill contains an entire title — Title IV — dedicated to the Trinity River water-sharing agreement. It doesn't just study the problem. It establishes enforceable minimum flows that give the river enough water for salmon to survive and reproduce. It funds comprehensive habitat restoration — spawning gravel replacement, riparian revegetation, and temperature management across the entire watershed. It protects Hoopa Valley Tribe fishing rights as the treaty obligations they are. And it creates transition funding so agricultural users who depend on diverted water can invest in efficiency rather than fighting over a shrinking resource.
American Forest Resilience & Timber Economy Act
The forests need managing. Trinity needs jobs. This bill solves both problems at once.
Trinity County is surrounded by national forest — and those forests are dangerously overgrown because federal fire suppression policies stopped the management that kept them healthy. Every summer, the question isn't whether there will be a wildfire — it's how bad it will be. Meanwhile, the mills that once employed hundreds of people sit empty. This bill designates Trinity as a Forestry Resilience Zone, unlocking federal investment in the sustainable forest management this county desperately needs. It funds mass timber and cross-laminated timber (CLT) manufacturing at former mill sites — turning thinned material into high-value building products instead of letting it burn. It recognizes cultural burning as a legitimate management tool, honoring the practices of the Hoopa Valley Tribe that kept these forests healthy for thousands of years. And it funds workforce training through local programs so Trinity residents — not outside contractors — fill these jobs.
Redwood Country Rural Prosperity Act
When the timber industry collapsed, Trinity lost everything. This bill builds what comes next.
The collapse of the timber industry didn't just cost Trinity County jobs — it hollowed out entire communities. Young people left. Schools shrank. Businesses closed. The county has never recovered, and no federal program has been designed to help places like Trinity specifically. This bill changes that. It creates a Redwood Country Economic Diversification Fund that invests directly in communities that lost their timber economy — not as charity, but as economic development built on Trinity's actual strengths. It funds value-added wood products manufacturing — specialty lumber, engineered wood, biomass energy — so the material coming out of forest restoration creates local wealth instead of being shipped elsewhere. It supports workforce development partnerships with local institutions so residents can train for the new forest economy without leaving the county. And it includes small business support and broadband investment so entrepreneurs in Weaverville, Hayfork, and Lewiston can build businesses that serve the modern economy from right where they are.
Every Bill Meets These Standards
Not campaign promises — drafted federal legislation tested against eight ironclad principles. Read the bills. Check the math. Hold me to it.