Sierra Nevada Conservancy Shares Draft Strategic Plan for Public Comment
Sierra Nevada Conservancy Shares Draft Strategic Plan for Public Comment
Over the past year, the Sierra Nevada Conservancy (SNC) has been taking stock of the past five years and gathering input from their Board, partners, and the public in order to craft a Strategic Plan for 2024-2029 that will help the SNC best serve the Sierra-Cascade and all of California. Comments on the Draft Strategic Plan can be emailed or delivered in person at SNC’s March 7 Governing Board meeting in Sacramento. Public comment closes Friday, March 8 at 5 PM. After review of public comment, the SNC anticipates that the Board will consider adoption of a 2024-2029 Strategic Plan at its June 2024 meeting.
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.
State Agencies Fund Wildfire Resilience, Habitat Restoration and Conservation Projects
State Agencies Fund Wildfire Resilience, Habitat Restoration and Conservation Projects
State Agencies Fund Wildfire Resilience, Habitat Restoration and Conservation Projects:
State Coastal Conservancy $78 Million for Climate Resilience, Public Access, Habitat Restoration and Wildfire Resilience: On June 1, the State Coastal Conservancy approved nearly $78 million for 34 projects to protect and restore coastal lands, increase coastal resilience to climate change, improve public access to the coast, and reduce the impact of wildfire on coastal lands.
SNC Approves $22.5 Million to Build Resilience, Boost Recreation, and Conserve Land: On June 1, the Sierra Nevada Conservancy (SNC) approved roughly $22.5 million for 24 different projects that will benefit wildfire recovery and forest resilience, expand recreation opportunities, and conserve strategic land throughout California’s Sierra-Cascade region.
California’s Joint Strategy for Sustainable Outdoor Recreation & Wildfire Resilience
California’s Joint Strategy for Sustainable Outdoor Recreation & Wildfire Resilience
This Joint Strategy, developed by the Task Force Sustainable & Accessible Recreation Key Working Group, provides a roadmap for improved access to sustainable outdoor recreation, with a focus on areas where wildfires are impacting those opportunities throughout California.
RESOURCES
The 2021 Caldor Fire: One Year Later Video Series
The 2021 Caldor Fire: One Year Later Video Series
October 21, 2022, marks exactly one year since the Caldor Fire was completely contained.
Over the last year and with months of research and collaboration, the Eldorado National Forest released a four-part series examining the Caldor Fire. This series reviews the suppression efforts that took place, the fire behavior challenging firefighters, the road to rehabilitation and restoration, and what is being done now to lower the future risk of fire to communities.
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Episode 1: Initial response and experiences of firefighters who not only worked but also lived in the area
Episode 2: How fire behavior and fuel conditions made for a challenging fire fight
Episode 3: What restoration and rehabilitation work has occurred and its importance
Episode 4: What is being done to reduce extreme wildfire behavior
Eastern Sierra Recreation Update
Eastern Sierra Climate Communities Resilience Project aims to reduce wildfire danger and improve forest health and resilience around the Town of Mammoth Lakes
Good things are happening in the Eastern Sierra thanks to collaborative efforts between state, federal, and local partners. These efforts will not only help build resiliency of Mammoth Lakes and the forests, but sustain the recreation economy that Mammoth provides in the Eastern Sierra.
Mammoth Lakes “Donut” Project: The Eastern Sierra Climate and Communities Resilience Project, known locally as the “Mammoth Donut,” is wrapping up its two-year preplanning phase and implementation will soon begin under this multi-year wildfire and forest resiliency project. Spanning 56,000 acres of Inyo National Forest across six different watersheds and managed by the Whitebark Institute, the planning for this landscape-scale project included input from a wide range of partners and was enabled by funding from the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, and the Regional Fire and Forest Capacity Program. The Inyo National Forest is now inviting public input on this project.
Mammoth Lakes Basin Trails Ribbon Cutting: On October 5th, Inyo National Forest and the Town of Mammoth Lakes officially opened several new trails in the Mammoth Lakes Basin. These new trails are a result of the community engagement effort from the Lakes Basin Special Study, an effort that began in 2012 led by the Mammoth Lakes Trails and Public Access Foundation (MLTPA), MLTPA, with grant funding from SNC.
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MLTPA: Lakes Basin Special Study
Mammoth Lakes Trail System: RibbonCutting Celebration for New LakesBasin Trails
SNC’s Mammoth Lakes Donut Project
SNC to Pilot Wildfire Resilience Landscape Investment Strategy
SNC to Pilot Wildfire Resilience Landscape Investment Strategy
Made possible by increased state and federal funding and cooperation, the the Landscape Grant Pilot Program will give land managers a new tool that seeks to meet the wildfire crisis where it is occurring—at the landscape level. The program will seek to align funding from multiple entities to provide one or two large landscape grants that support strategic portfolios of projects across large landscapes over a 5- to 10-year timeframe. The program will help SNC implement its Sierra Nevada Landscape Investment Strategy
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Wildfire-Safety Work Completed in South Fork Mokelumne Watershed
Wildfire-Safety Work Completed in South Fork Mokelumne Watershed
One year after the 2015 Butte Fire destroyed nearly 500 residences nearby, CAL FIRE identified the South Fork Mokelumne River watershed as a top priority for fuels reduction in order to protect communities from future wildfires. With the recent completion of the South Fork Mokelumne River Watershed Restoration Project Phase 3, many of those wildfire worries have, fortunately, been doused.
Funded by the Sierra Nevada Conservancy (SNC) in 2019, Phase 3 removed small-diameter trees and ladder fuels on 285 acres of dense, pine-plantation forests managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), completing the project’s goal of restoring roughly 500 acres of forest. Considering the project area borders many neighborhoods and is surrounded by nearby towns, such as Glencoe, Sandy Gulch, Rail Road Flat, and Wilseyville, this strategic work should greatly reduce the threat of wildfire for thousands of Calaveras County residents.
CalRec Vision Whitepaper
CalRec Vision Whitepaper
Over several months in 2020, MLTPA convened and facilitated an advisory committee of federal, state, and regional participants, which met and produced the CALREC Vision white paper. This white paper sufficiently inspired the California Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force to task MLTPA with the establishment, convening, and facilitation of the Key Working Group to deliver Key Actions 3.13 and 3.14 from California’s Wildfire & Forest Resilience Action Plan.