Is it legal to cut down trees in California?
Red Emerson and his family own Sierra Pacific Industries.
They are the largest private land owner in California. They operate about a dozen sawmills in northern CA and WA.
https://www.spi-ind.com/Home/AboutUs
Most of trees in SW are not particularly useful.
Believe of not, the majestic ponderosa pine wood is prone to rot, so it cannot be used for outside structures.
The chaparral, shrub, alligator juniper, desert oak etc. are all useless.
So, there is not that much that could be used for building coming from CA.
After a judge (be forever dammed) singlehandedly destroyed AZ lumber industry, and after the Greyer fire, when the AZ people finally told STOP to this green madness, we are having huge problems with luring lumberjacks back!