Northern California Regional Meeting

Tour of Ross Ranch

Regenerative Agriculture and WUI Projects to Maintain the Land & Protect the Community

Destination: Join The McConnell Foundation for a tour of this beautiful 860 acre working ranch, just on the outskirts of Redding. The ranch is permanently protected under a conservation easement and is utilized as a “learning laboratory” that plays host to a variety of regenerative agriculture and fire resilience demonstration projects. This tour will focus on several of the soil health, fuel reduction, and grazing management projects that have been taking place across the ranch. In particular, we will hear from CAL FIRE about the 120 acre prescribed burn they implemented on the property in July 2023.

Start/End Time: 9am – 1pm

Tour Host: The McConnell Foundation

Accessibility: Easy accessibility. 1.25 mile walk.

Notes: Lunch Included.

Location: Ross Ranch (3 minute drive from campus)

Destination: Please join us on a field trip to Trinity County, the highest risk county for wildfire in California, to learn how we are working with local partners and stakeholders to reduce the risk of wildfire on a landscape level! We will discuss current and future efforts to reduce wildfire risk to communities and natural resources on the Trinity Landscape, under the Forest Service’s Wildfire Crisis Strategy. Working closely together with partners, stakeholders, and local communities is crucial to reducing wildfire risk across land ownerships, and will promote strengthened relationships, increased effectiveness, and greater planning and implementation capacities. To learn more about the Trinity Landscape, please visit the following website: LINK >

Start/End Time: 9am – 2:30pm

Tour Host: Shasta-Trinity National Forest & The Watershed Research Training Center

Accessibility: Trucks and any size SUV. Parking is limited, please carpool.

Notes: Bring lunch.

Location:  Weaverville Ranger Station

I-5 Corridor Fuels Reduction Efforts

Partnering for Resilience – Proactive Strategies in Managing Public Lands to Reduce Wildfire Risks and Promote Healthy Forests

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Destination: Please join us on a field trip along the crucial transportation corridor of Interstate 5 to the north of Redding. We will observe footprints and impacts from multiple recent fires, higher risk areas for wildfire, and our strategic plans for future work along the corridor and on the landscape. We will cross over Shasta Lake, which is the largest reservoir in all of California. The field tour will provide opportunities for discussions and questions with Forest Service Fire Ecologists, Fuels and Silviculture Specialists, and other resource specialists. We will observe recent prescribed fire and thinning around Shasta Lake. To learn more about one of the project areas we will be observing, please visit the following project page: VISIT >

Start/End Time: 9am – 12pm

Tour Host: Shasta-Trinity National Forest 

Location: Shasta Lake Ranger Station (30 minutes from Shasta College)

Accessibility: Any size vehicle. Parking is limited, please carpool.

LOCATION: Shasta Lake Ranger Station

Shasta College Workforce Development and Training: Partnership in Action

Partnering for Resilience – Proactive Strategies in Managing Public Lands to Reduce Wildfire Risks and Promote Healthy Forests

Destination: This tour will begin on campus visiting the College’s CDL Class A/B License Training, Agriculture, Horticulture, Forestry/Natural Resources, and Heavy Equipment Training Grounds. We will then venture offsite to the Logging Operations Training Grounds, located on program partner Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI) land, before returning to campus for lunch and presentations from the College’s STEP UP restorative justice program and its Fire Academy. Co-leading the tour will be Ted James, SPI District Forester, to provide an active employer partner’s perspective on the critical nature of strategic, intentional collaboration between training providers and their industry partners.

Start/End Time: 8am – 2pm

Tour Host: Shasta College & Sierra Pacific Industries

Location: Meet in East Parking Lot, Shasta College Campus

Accessibility: Free parking on campus in the East Lot is available. College transportation will be provided from there. Program areas on campus are easily accessible. Individuals may encounter uneven ground on the Logging Operations site visit. Restrooms are available on campus with a portable restroom available at the Logging Operations Training Grounds.

Notes: Please wear closed-toe shoes and long pants. Bring layers for our visit to the Logging Operations Training Grounds. Please bring water for the morning segment of our tour. Lunch will be provided when we return to campus.

LaTour Demonstration State Forest

Onsite with California’s first Demonstration State Forest – since 1946

Destination: LaTour became California’s first Demonstration State Forest in 1946 and continues to demonstrate forest health and fire prevention projects utilizing existing permits, a skilled workforce, and commercial markets available to private landowners. In partnership with the Shasta College Resource Management and Heavy Equipment Logging Operations (HELO) programs LaTour is committed to developing the next generation of forest professionals, advancing their motto of “Trees and Foresters Growing Together.” Projects that can be viewed on the tour will include the University of Nevada Reno AMEX study (PI Dr. Bisbing), researching long term climate driven adaptive silviculture. Another stop will be the 1980 Whitmore Plantation, resulting from a 1978 fire. This site includes a study supported by FRAP, to investigate plantation restoration on legacy post-fire regenerated stand. The study will showcase the benefits of silvicultural reinvestment to restore site productivity, wildlife habitat, carbon sequestration, aesthetics, and biodiversity.

Start/End Time: 9am – 1pm

Tour Host: CAL FIRE, Shasta College Heavy Equipment Logging Operations, University of Nevada Reno

Accessibility: carpooling in high clearance vehicles is required. One ADA restroom available upon entry and exit from the forest. Short walks on uneven ground at each tour stop.

Location: Whitmore CAL FIRE station 35, 11787 Ponderosa Way, Whitmore, CA 96096 (one hour from campus)

Wood Products Innovations

Market-Driven Solutions in Action

Destination: Tour Sierra Pacific Industries’ small log mill and learn how the latest innovative technology is being applied to maximize lumber production and minimize wood waste in alignment with sustainable forest management practices. Visit Shasta-Sustainable Resource Management where non-merchantable waste wood from Shasta-Trinity and Lassen National Forests, as well as from private lands, are selectively removed and processed in its facility to enhance remaining standing timber while generating electricity for sale to the local utility. Shasta plays a key role in the State’s effort to safely manage forest residue in high hazard areas to reduce the risk of forest fires.

Start/End Time: 8am – 12pm

Tour Host: Sierra Pacific Industries and Sustainable Resource Management

Accessibility: This is a walking tour with a moderate number of stairs to climb.

Notes: Sturdy, closed-toe, flat-heeled shoes must be worn. No sandals, flip flops, or high heels will be allowed. Long pants are highly recommended. PPE will be provided as appropriate.

Location: Anderson, CA, (more information coming soon.)

Shasta County Fuel Reduction Collaborative

Using Prescribed Fire, Mechanical, and Hand Treatments for Fuelbreaks Across Multiple Agencies and Landowners

Destination: Following the Carr Fire and Camp Fire in 2018, the CAL FIRE Shasta-Trinity Unit and the Western Shasta RCD (WSRCD) began to strengthen their partnership to increase the pace and scale of wildfire resilience in Shasta County. As part of Governor Newsom’s 45-Day Report, three out of the ten highest priority projects were identified in Shasta County. In order to tackle all of these projects, CAL FIRE enlisted the WSRCD to implement the China Gulch Fuels Reduction Project that included initially treating over 500 acres of heavy fuels in the community of Happy Valley, west of Redding, CA. This tour will highlight that project and several others that CAL FIRE and the WSRCD have partnered on over the past several years including China Gulch Fuels Reduction Phase II (CAL FIRE Fire Prevention Grant)/CAL FIRE Shasta County Dump VMP/CAL FIRE Cal Vets Cemetery VTP).

Start/End Time: 9am – 1pm

Tour Host: CAL FIRE & Western Shasta RCD

Accessibility: There will be short walks at each stop. Terrain is relatively flat. Open toed shoes not recommended.

Notes: Bring lunch. (There is a cool spot on the way back at the Clear Creek Gorge (BLM Property) where there are picnic tables and you might get to see some spawning Salmon.)

Location: End of Bohn Boulevard (30 minutes from Shasta College)

Manzanita Lake – Mechanical Thinning/Prescribed Fire

Reducing Forest Density Through a Two-Step Approach

Destination: Human suppression of wildfire has resulted in overly dense conditions; loss of old-growth trees and wildlife habitat; and increased risk of severe wildfire in the Manzanita Lake and Lost Creek areas. These combined areas are known as the Northwest Gateway, which contains numerous facilities and other infrastructure along the park highway. The Northwest Gateway project uses a two-step process to reduce forest density through one-time use of mechanized equipment and then apply prescribed fire to restored forests 3 to 5 years after mechanical treatment.

Start/End Time: 9am – 2pm

Tour Host: Lassen Volcanic National Park, Superintendent Jim Richardson

Accessibility:

Location: Manzanita Lake (Meet up with group and park car at Loomis Museum parking lot.)

Mineral Forest: Hazard Tree Removal

Helping Communities with No-Cost Hazard Tree Removal

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Destination: The RCD of Tehama County has partnered with the Mineral Firewise USA® Council to implement Phase I of the Mineral & Stringtown Hazard Tree Removal Project. This project will ultimately serve Mineral’s Cool-Air, Lassen Alpine Village, and Meadowview subdivisions in addition to Stringtown to treat dead, dying, and diseased trees, and trees that violate Public Resources Code 4291. The Mineral & Stringtown Hazard Tree Removal Project is a TinderSmart Tehama program available at no cost to residents.

Start/End Time: 9am – 12pm

Tour Host: Crane Mills & RCD of Tehama County

Accessibility: Limited parking, Carpooling encouraged.

Location: (one hour from Shasta College)

PODs in Action, Cross Boundary Spatial Fire Planning at Scale

Aligning Mutiple Policy Initiatives for Succesful Spatial Fire Planning

Destination: Successful spatial fire planning requires the orchestration of funding, planning, and governance functions.  In 2021 the NCRP launched a cross boundary Potential Operational Delineation mapping project. Subsequently there have been major investments in landscape resilience through the USFS Wildfire Crisis Priority Landscapes, the Sierra Nevada Conservancies Wildfire Resilience program, the Community Wildfire Defense Grants, and Calfire’s Fire Prevention program.

This driving tour will give participants an understanding of how Potential Operational Delineations, Firesheds, and Community Wildfire Protection Planning processes intersect and complement one another.  In addition this will profile the linkages between fuels planning and other natural resource and recreational values in a series of critically important watersheds.

On the 2 hour drive participants will see a variety of forest management strategies in different  phases of planning and implementation and discuss the governance and capacity needs to move forest resilience projects forward at scale.  The tour will stop at projects being developed by the Shasta Valley RCD, Watershed Research and Training Center, and the Shasta Trinity National Forest as well as profile major landscape conservation strategies.

Start/End Time: 10am – 2pm

Tour Host: The Watershed Research & Training Center

Accessibility: Short walks, limited parking. Carpooling encouraged. 

Approximate Drive Time from Shasta College: 1 hour

NOTES: Meet at Siskiyou Box Canyon Dam at 10am – Discuss proposed USFS actions in the watershed, SVRCD private lands strategy in the Urban interface issues. Depart for the Parks Creek Trailhead at 11:30am  – Discuss Klamath Meadows partnership strategy, Pacific Forest Trust, High Value Recreation sites and how these all fit into a comprehensive landscape plan.  Final break up of the group at 2pm with a guide for choose your own adventure route home with an optional stop to look at extreme watershed impacts from the 2021 River Complex.  

Location: Meet at Siskiyou Box Canyon Dam

Walking the Westside Trails

Post Wildfire Treatments to Achieve Multiple Objectives

Destination: This project is an example of post high severity wildfire WUI hazard fuels treatment in Northern California. Treatments in or adjacent to urban areas will often seek to achieve multiple objectives. This example looks to reduce hazard fuels post fire, maintain the existing recreation investments/ trails, manage vegetation for long term goals, and coordinate with landowners/ agency cooperators/ special intrest groups locally.

Start/End Time: 9am – 1pm

Tour Host: Bureau of Land Management, Redding Office

Accessibility: Parking is limited please carpool, no restooms, trail hiking with some moderate inclines.

NOTES: 5+ stops along the trail. Bring snacks, water, and wear outdoor apparel. 

Location: Westside Trails Kilkee Trailhead (20 minutes from Shasta College)

City of Shasta Lake: WUI Field Tour

Overcoming Obstacles from Multiple Ownerships to Create Shaded Fuel Breaks

Destination: The City’s Fuels Reduction Manager will guide you through the area’s wildland urban interface and highlight fuel treatments including mastication and vegetation spraying to create shaded fuel breaks. We will discuss obstacles and successes of working with private property owners, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the U.S. Forest Service to gain right of entry to conduct fuel reduction projects and the impact they have on the community. The tour will begin at City Hall for a brief introduction. From there, City staff will transport participants to various project sites around the City. A portion of the tour will include hiking moderate terrain.

Start/End Time: 8am – 10:30am

Tour Host: City of Shasta Lake

Accessibility:  Transportation from Shasta Lake City Hall to various project sites will be provided.

Approximate Drive Time from Shasta College: Shasta Lake City Hall (20 mins from Shasta College)

NOTES: Shoes suitable for hiking are required. Long pants are recommended. Bring water.

Location: Shasta Lake City Hall: 4477 Main Street, Shasta Lake, CA 96019

Shingletown Fuel Reduction – Highway 44 Project

Connecting Landscape and WUI Fuel Treatments to Existing Projects

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Destination: Connecting landscape fuels reduction to Governors 45-day, Hwy 44 project. Tour completed hazardous fuels reduction treatments in the Whispering Woods neighborhood in Shingletown and ongoing landscape fuels reduction biomass operations on non-industrial and industrial timberland. View completed mastication and planned biomass fuels reduction treatments at the Woodridge Estates community and Wilson Hills road in Shingletown.

Start/End Time: 8am – 12pm

Tour Host: Lassen Fire Safe Council

Accessibility: Active landing operations, carpooling encouraged

Approximate Drive Time from Shasta College: 50 mins.

NOTES:

Sturdy, closed-toe, flat-heeled shoes must be worn. No sandals, flip flops, or high heels will be allowed. Long pants are highly recommended. Hard hats and hearing protection will not be provided.

Location: CALFIRE Station:32249 CA-44, Shingletown, CA 96088

Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve

Ecological Restoration and Prescribed Fire

Destination: Mixed oak woodland habitat in the foothills of the Cascade Range. Ecological restoration, fuels reduction/wildfire mitigation. The Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve contains 7,835 acres of diverse canyon and ridge habitats, including 4.5 miles of Big Chico Creek, and is home to many species of plants and animals. The mission of the Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve is to preserve and steward critical habitat and to provide a natural area for environmental research and education. 

Start/End Time: 10am – 2pm

Tour Host: Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve

Accessibility: Flat area around HQ/parking lot (meadow). Dirt roads, foothills. Outdoor setting. Wear hiking clothes/shoes. No potable water on site, so please bring plenty of water. Sun exposure (hat, sunscreen).

NOTES: 

Location: Big Chico Creek Ecological Preserve (1.5 hours from Shasta College)