CA Climate Hub Receives USFS Region 5 Partnership of the Year Award
California Climate Hub Receives USFS Region 5 Partnership of the Year Award
The USDA Forest Service Region 5 awarded the California Climate Hub the 2023 Honor Award for Partnership of the Year for their efforts to develop and deliver climate literacy and web-based climate tools trainings. The trainings familiarized participants with relevant information on climate and climate models and provided hands-on experience using two web-based climate data tools: Cal-Adapt and Climate Toolbox. Additionally, the California Climate Hub has designed and delivered a series of workshops focused on the applications of the California Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force’s Regional Resource Kits. The most recent workshop gathered forest managers from local, state, and federal agencies at Shasta-Trinity National Forest in Redding.
North Yuba Landscape Resilience Project
North Yuba Landscape Resilience Project an Example of Collaborative Funding
A 2020 Sierra Nevada Conservancy grant in support of planning efforts by the North Yuba Forest Partnership leveraged a $160 million USFS investment which will allow much-needed work to be completed across 275,000 acres of federal land within the North Yuba River watershed. While federal projects are ramping up, others have already started thanks to private funding from a forest resilience bond created by Blue Forest Conservation.
Explore the Treatment Dashboard - Take The Survey
Recap: Treatment Dashboard Virtual Workshop
On Tuesday, November 14 the Task Force hosted a Virtual Public Workshop on the CA Wildfire & Landscape Resilience Interagency Treatment Dashboard. The goal of the workshop was to gather input from those using the Treatment Tracking System and Dashboard to improve how data is accessed and displayed, and to ensure we are providing transparency and effective planning information on statewide wildfire resilience treatments.
If you missed the workshop, or want to look back at what was covered, click on the buttons above to watch a video of the presentation from Alan Talhelm, Assistant Deputy Director for Climate and Energy at CAL FIRE, and a key architect of the Dashboard. You can also view and download Alan’s presentation and take a moment to answer a quick survey for gathering additional input on how the Dashboard can be most effective.
CA Fire Science Consortium Conducting Land and Fire Management Needs Assessment
CA Fire Science Consortium Conducting Land and Fire Management Needs Assessment
The California Fire Science Consortium is leading a survey to gain an updated understanding of needs around knowledge exchange, information sources, and scientific research. All are welcome, from those working in fire as well as those in non-fire roles, to complete the survey to help inform science delivery and regional knowledge exchange within California. The survey will be open until January 1, 2024.
RESOURCES
CAL FIRE's and ALERTCalifornia's Fire Detection AI Program Named One of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2023
CAL FIRE's and ALERTCalifornia's Fire Detection AI Program
TIME selected the University of California ALERTCalifornia program, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), and industry partner Digital Path’s AI fire detection tool as one of the best inventions of 2023. The value of this public-private partnership is the development of AI to aid firefighters, mitigate watchstander fatigue, reduce false positives, and confirm fire incidents in the incipient phase. Early detection and rapid response allow firefighters to combat fires before they grow. The AI tool became available to all 21 CAL FIRE 911 Dispatch Centers in September 2023.
Recap of The Northern California Regional Meeting
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA REGIONAL MEETING RECAP
October 5, 2023
Over 300 people came together in Redding (with over 200 joining online) for the Governor’s Wildfire & Forest Resilience Task Force’s Northern California regional meeting. Highlights for the meeting included the release of the Northern California’s Regional Resource Kit and Regional profile, completing the set for all four regions. Additionally, panelists presented on Northern California’s unique physical and socio-economic landscapes, including how regional leaders are scaling up landscape restoration and community protection as well as adapting to meet forest sector workforce needs.
If you couldn’t make it in person, or missed the real-time webinar, video recordings are available below.
REGIONAL MEETING AGENDA HIGHLIGHTS
- Director’s Report: Director Wright provided an overview of projects and investments achieved by Task Force partners in the region and shared how new Task Force products such as the Interagency Treatment Dashboard and Regional Resource Kits can be utilized to assess landscape health and fire risk, plan and prioritize projects, and track progress toward wildfire resilience in every region of the state.
- Northern California Landscapes: A panel of experts discussed Northern California’s unique physical and socio-economic landscapes and the role Indigenous stewardship, water security, and community resilience and recovery play in the region. The Task Force Interagency Science Team then introduced the new data tools for practitioners available in the Task Force’s Regional Resource Kits.
- Scaling Up Landscape Restoration and Community Protection: Northern California regional leaders discussed how they are aligning funding and adapting their programs to restore landscapes and protect communities at a meaningful scale. This included a case study of Trinity County, California’s highest fire risk county.
- Forest Sector Workforce Needs & Opportunities: A panel of forest sector workforce and training representatives discussed current forestry-related workforce impediments to increasing the pace and scale of landscape restoration.
Welcome
• Dr. Joe Wise, Shasta-Tehama-Trinity Joint Community College District
• Chairman Jack Potter Jr., Redding Rancheria
Opening Remarks
• Wade Crowfoot, CNRA
• Jennifer Eberlien, USFS
• Brian Ferebee, Executive Lead, Wildfire Crisis Strategy, USFS
• Task Force Executive Committee
Director’s Report
Director’s Report
• Patrick Wright
Northern California's Landscapes
Northern California's Landscapes
• Moderator: Steven Ostoja, USDA California Climate Hub
• Ramona Butz, USFS Northern Province Ecology
• Frank Lake, USFS-Pacific SW Research Station
• Safeeq Khan, UC Merced
• Yana Valochovic, UCANR
Regional Resource Kits: John Battles, UC Berkeley
Scaling Up Landscape Restoration & Community Protection
Scaling Up Landscape Restoration & Community Protection
• Moderator: Nick Goulette, The Watershed Center
• Kelly Sheen, Trinity County RCD
• Rachel Birkey, Shasta-Trinity National Forest
• Leaf Hillman, North Coast Resource Partnership
• Gabe Shultz, CAL FIRE Northern Region
Forest Sector Workforce Needs & Opportunities
Forest Sector Workforce Needs & Opportunities
• Moderator: Becky Roe, Shasta College
• Todd Jones, Shasta Economic Development Corporation
• Lindsay Dailey, Tribal EcoRestoration Alliance
• Justin Britton, CAL FIRE
• Mark Luster, Sierra Pacific Industries
• Tim Aldinger, Foundation for CA Community Colleges
Closing Remarks
• Task Force Co-Chairs
Wildfire Mitigation and Management Commission Releases Final Report
Wildfire Mitigation and Management Commission Releases Final Report
On September 27, the federal Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission, co-chaired by the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Interior and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, released a final report submitted to Congress that reflects a comprehensive review of the federal wildfire system. The report makes 148 recommendations covering seven key themes:
- Urgent new approaches to address the wildfire crisis
- Supporting collaboration to improve partner involvement
- Shifting from reactive to proactive in planning for, mitigating and recovering from fire
- Enabling beneficial fire to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire
- Supporting and expanding the workforce to hire and retain the wildland firefighting staff needed to address the crisis
- Modernizing tools for informed decision-making to better leverage available technology and information
- Investing in resilience through increased spending now to reduce costs in the long run
New Online Treatment Dashboard to Track Wildfire Resilience Projects
New Online Treatment Dashboard to Track Wildfire Resilience Projects
On August 29, the Governor’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force launched the beta version of a first-of-its-kind Interagency Treatment Dashboard beta that displays the size and location of state and federal forest and landscape resilience projects in California.
The dashboard offers a one-stop-shop to access data, provide transparency, and align the efforts of more than a dozen agencies to build resilient landscapes and communities in California. It reports treatment activities such as prescribed fire, targeted grazing, uneven-aged timber harvest, mechanical and hand fuels reduction, and tree planting. Users can sort treatments by region, county, land ownership and more.
The beta version of the dashboard will continue to be refined to include additional data, including projects by local and tribal entities, along with revisions based on public feedback. An official launch is expected in spring 2024 with more complete data on projects implemented in 2022.
CAL FIRE and BLM Join Forces to Work Across Jurisdictions on Forest and Fuels Management Projects
CAL FIRE and BLM Join Forces to Work Across Jurisdictions on Forest and Fuels Management Projects
Through a nationwide initiative known as the Good Neighbor Authority, CAL FIRE and the BLM have entered a statewide agreement and contract worth approximately $4.5 million, made available to CAL FIRE as part of the agreement. The primary objective of this contract is to mitigate the potential devastation caused by wildfires specifically on BLM lands. By joining forces, the agencies can pair similar goals of separate projects on adjacent or nearby lands and further reduce the risks associated with wildfires while improving overall ecosystem health.
BLM Signs Environmental Assessment to Streamline Fuels Reduction Projects
BLM Signs Environmental Assessment to Streamline Fuels Reduction Projects
Taking an aggressive approach to reduce wildfire risk in California and northwest Nevada, the Bureau of Land Management signed the Statewide Wildland-Urban Interface Fuels Treatment Programmatic Environmental Assessment.
Several years in the making, the Assessment will streamline planning processes allowing fuels reduction projects to move forward quickly when funding is available. This tool will be accessible to other organizations that want to coordinate fuels treatments adjacent to BLM lands, such as fire safe councils and private landowners. It’s estimated the Assessment will allow an additional 20,000 acres of public land to be treated each year, bringing the Task Force closer to reaching target milestones in the Fire-Adapted Communities Key Action areas.
On August 8, 2023 BLM officials signed a Decision Record signing to signify the beginning of the Assessments’s implementation.
The fuels reduction project that this Assessment will help streamline aims to reduce the intensity, severity, and the spread of wildfire on public lands by reducing overgrowth, creating fuel breaks and thinning forest density. As a result, communities in and around BLM lands will experience reduced likelihood of loss of life, property, and community infrastructure from wildfires.