STONYFORD WORKSHOP: INCREASING SCALE AND PACE OF PRIVATE LAND AND CROSS BOUNDARY BURNING KEY TOPIC

"GOOD FIRE PROS AND CONS" Exercise Review

STONYFORD WORKSHOP: INCREASING SCALE AND PACE OF PRIVATE LAND AND CROSS BOUNDARY BURNING KEY TOPIC

 

  

Judging by the number of local ranchers that attended a community workshop near the Mendocino National Forest where bringing more “Good Fire” onto the landscape was the stated goal, the attendees and presenters were ready to get out into the field and significantly increase the amount of prescribed fire on the landscape to reduce fuel loading on both private and public lands.  This was FireScape Mendocino’s (FSM) first in-person public workshop since the COVID-19 meeting restrictions were enacted over 2 years ago.  The event was held on April 21 at the Stonyford Community Center.

Tribal Fire Practioners Present Cultural Burning

Don Amador, FSM Core-Team Member, welcomed the group of just over 40 people and acknowledged the community’s desire to engage in burning as a form of vegetation reduction and invasive species management with a goal to showcase burning as a safe practice that supports landowner fuels reduction and ecological objectives and recognized the important role and fire history that Tribes have in burning lands for cultural traditions and natural resource management.  Those Tribes highlighted were the Pomo, Yuki, and Nomlaki.

 

The workshop modules started with attendee participation in sharing-out expectations of the workshop. Attendees also participated in a “Good Fire Pro’s and Con’s” exercise that proved to be a worthwhile effort in working through as a group to ensure all were on the same page in terminology and the array of outcomes in using fire as a tool for ecological management.

Overview of Successful Burn Projects on Coastal Grasslands

 

Jeff Stackhouse, a Livestock and Natural Resource Advisor from the University of California Cooperative Extension and the Humboldt County Burn Association highlighted a number of private land prescribed fire strategies and examples of successful burn projects on coastal grasslands.

 

The Tehama County Air Quality Control District representative, Joe Tona, gave insights into how the District makes its decisions regarding authorizing burn days and how it works with private and public sector partners.

Forest Service Leads and Specialists Give Update on TREX 

and Cross Boundary Burning

 

Frank Aebly, the District Ranger for the Upper Lake Ranger District on the Mendocino National Forest, and several other agency fire specialists gave updates on current and future TREX Prescribed Fire Training project and opportunities for cross boundary burning on private property near, or on matrix lands within, the National Forest.

 

Ali Meders-Knight, Traditional Ecological Knowledge practioner of the Mechoopda Tribe (Chico Rancheria) and Meleiza Figueroa from the Mechoopda Tribe shared how Tribes have successfully used fire for thousands of years to manage grasslands and forests in Northern California.  They also illustrated how their fire projects relied on tribal members of all ages to manage the fire to meet both cultural and natural resource objectives.

Ernest Ceccon, a USFS Hotshot and Fire lead, talked about how a Burn Boss performs prescribed-fire planning, obtains state or local approval and permits, develops and implements a burn plan, monitors fire effects, maintains prescriptive requirements, and conducts an After-Action Review.

 

 Shannon Johnson, Andrew Hubbs, and Matt Chamblin, leads from CALFIRE, respectively gave overviews on CALFIRE’s Vegetation Management and Treatment Programs, the permitting process and how the public can utilize those programs to increase the scale and pace of prescribed fire treatments for ranches and other private land classifications, the Forest Management Program, and CALFIRE operations.

   

Brin Greer, Resource Conservation District of Tehama County and FSM Public Forums Lead, wrapped up the meeting by having the attendees evaluate the presentations for content and relevancy to the community’s desire to increase the number of acres treated with prescribed fire.

 

In the event evaluation surveys, participant feedback on the workshop was overwhelmingly positive. “All the right people were in the room,” wrote one attendee. 

 

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DIVERSE STAKEHOLDERS PARTICIPATE at POST AUGUST COMPLEX FIRE WORKSHOP

Post August Complex Fire - Crane Mills Property

DIVERSE STAKEHOLDERS PARTICIPATE at POST AUGUST COMPLEX FIRE WORKSHOP

 

Approximately 45 forest stakeholders attended a virtual workshop to discuss their feelings, experiences, and observations about how they were impacted by the 2020 August Complex Fire that burned almost one million areas of private and public forest and grasslands.  Hosted by FireScape Mendocino (FSM), the workshop was held on the mornings of April 28 and 29, 2021.

Tribal Participation in Forest Health Collaborative

Dave Ceppos, Director of the California State University Sacramento, Consensus and Collaboration Program, facilitated this event that was FSM’s Workshop #12: Our Future in a Fire-adapted Landscape.

Fire Impacts to Home Owners

The program started out both days with the FSM core-team lead acknowledging and expressing their appreciation to the Tribes in the project area for their participation in the forest health collaborative.  A special note of thanks was given to the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians for assigning one of their representatives to be part of the original FSM core-team and the Round Valley Tribe for participating in numerous workshops and field trips over the years and for inviting FireScape to participate in their annual Salmon Awareness Festival.

 

Effective Ridgetop Fuel Break - Crane Mills

On day one, Ann Carlson, the Forest Supervisor, gave an overview of how the recent wildfires have impacted the Forest, agency staff, and surrounding communities.  Forest Service fuels specialist, Hinda Darner, shared her observations on burn severity and the efficacy of various fuel reduction projects.

 

Fire Impacts to Wildlife

Local property owners, recreationists, ranchers, and foresters spoke from the heart how the recent wildfires have affected their personal lives, families, traditions, or outdoor activities.  Chris Baldo, a forester and inholder, talked about how the August Complex Fire affected his ranch and timberlands that are surrounded by the Mendocino National Forest.

 

Pete Bauer, a cattle rancher, explained how the August Complex Fire impacted their cattle operation but offered hope that some of the rangeland and meadows many benefit from the event.  Ryan Henson, a long-time recreationist on the Forest, shared how the fire has impacted him personally and that post-fire recovery of trail and other recreation opportunities is important to the outdoor community.

 

Workshop Graph on Personal Feelings

 

Ann Bradley and Zander Evans, specialists from the Burned Area Learning Network, led the group through several interactive web-based “Way of Life” surveys to gauge the level of post-fire shock or stress experienced by many in or near the fire’s burn footprint.  Other important feelings and emotions were also captured during the online exercises.

Workshop Graph on Values and Experiences
 

While many negative feelings were expressed, there was also a willingness by most to look for new opportunities and renewal in our post-fire reality. 

Day two was focused on presentations by scientists and agency specialists that covered post-fire impacts to wildlife, natural/cultural resources, and surrounding communities.  FSM core-team members, Jon Barrett, Tehama Resource Conservation District and Mike Marvier, Crane Mills Timber Company, talked about the fire impacts to private timberlands and highlighted current and future fuel management projects that are funding through California’s Climate Change Initiative grant program.

 

Public State Access is Important in Post Fire World

Don Hankins from Chico Stat gave a highly informative presentation on the impacts of fire on wildlife including deer and their habitat.  Jonathan Long, fire specialist from the Forest Service, gave an overview of how the August Complex Fire affected natural resources and potential strategies to address those impacts.

 

Post August Complex Fire Field Trip

Gabe Shultz, CALFIRE Staff Chief and Regional Resource Manager, gave a presentation on California’s 2021 Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan that proposes to make a $1 billion dollar investment in a strategy to increase the pace and scale of forest and wildland management to meet the state’s target of completing projects on 500,000 acres annually by 2025 and expanding the use of prescribed fire, particularly on state-owned lands. The plan calls for achieving these goals largely through regional strategies tailored to the environmental conditions, risks and priorities in each area.

 

Hilda Kwan, District Hydrologist, gave an overview of a 4,500 acre post-fire recovery project to remove fire-killed and fire-injured trees. The project would improve employee and public safety, capture remaining economic value of dead trees, and reduce post-fire fuels to prevent the future buildup of excessive fuel loads.

 

Gary Urdahl, District Forester, shared a number of pre and post fire slides that illustrated areas of high burn severity vs. forested units that survived due to pre-fire fuel reduction projects or other mitigating factors.

 

Meadow Benefits from August Complex Fire

Some key takeaways for me include presentations that illustrated both the negative and positive effects of recent wildfires.  Concerns were expressed about how the drought, increased bark beetle infestations, reburns killing tree roots and seedlings, and lack of biomass capacity will impact our post-fire reality.

 

Can Old Mill Sites Serve as Biomass Facilities

FSM believes this virtual workshop setting allowed for more people to participate and provide insight into next steps for a fire-adapted landscape. This setting also allowed for post-fire support from fellow FLN partners that have survived similar events. Also, public feedback will be used to help FSM plan for future workshops and field trips.

 

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FireScape Mendocino is a voluntary, inclusive and collaborative effort to shape the future of our fire-prone landscape in and near the Mendocino National Forest. Working together, we emphasize shared learning, problem solving and action on the ground.

 

 

  

Post Wildfire Tour to Review Efficacy of Fuel Projects

Post Fire Review of Fuel Projects

Core-Team members from FireScape Mendocino (FSM) along with representatives from CALFIRE, Forest Service, the Resource Conservation District (RCD) of Tehama County, and Crane Mills recently toured portions of the 2020 August Complex Fire that burned over 1 million acres of private and public lands in or near the Mendocino, Six Rivers, and Shasta Trinity National Forests.  

 

The field trip focused largely on reviewing burn severity and the efficacy of several fuel projects funded by California’s Climate Change Initiative (CCI) Grants and administered by the RCD of Tehama County in partnership with the Forest Service, Crane Mills, and CALFIRE. The grant originally was to treat over 5,000 acres of the Mendocino Forest and Crane Mills land.  The project completed treatment of 2500 acres before the August Complex started.    The tour was focused on effective implementation post fire.

 

Mid-Slop Shaded Fuel Break without Biomass Removal Component

 The tour included stops and presentations at fuel projects where mastication was the primary prescription vs. projects that used a combination of mastication and biomass removal.  

 

The location of projects was also a topic of discussion where participants compared/contrasted the effectiveness of mid-slope roadside shaded fuel breaks vs. shaded fuel breaks sited on ridgetops.

Ridge Top Shaded Fuel Break with Biomass Removal Component

 

Additionally, given that the treatment areas were just masticated before the fire started, it was discovered that rearranging fuels was not as effective as other sites that fared better, given the material was allowed to decompose.   The fuel load left on the forest floor helped carry fire and potentially caused the roots of the confers to cook.  The project team thought that this next winter will be critical to determining the fate of the conifers that survived the fire.

 

It appeared to the group the fuel projects that incorporated a biomass component into the prescription burned with less severity and had a higher tree survival rate.  Based on field observations and group discussions, it appeared that removing post-mastication woody debris was a critical factor to the success of the project.

 

The group also discussed the logistical challenges of bio massing and the needs for state/federal subsidizes to help offset the cost of trucking the material to co-generation plants.   Additional challenges include the economic viability of co-generation plants with numerous plant closers.

 

In order to increase pace and scale of project development, the project teamed discussed the importance of continued collaboration with state and federal agencies in an effort to help expedite the critical project development process.

 

Also given the area’s infamous and unpredictable wind patterns, it looked like mid-slope roadside fuel projects were not as successful as those located on ridgetops.

 

The group felt there is a lot we can learn from studying the burn severity in varying types of fuel projects tested by the August Complex Fire.  Given our limited resources compared to the size of the fire, it is important that resource managers consider biomass-centric fuel projects located near or on ridgetops.

Potential Biomass Plant at Old Mill Site near the Forest

Don Amador, Core-Team Lead for FSM, states, “My big takeaway from the field trip was the important role that biomass has in the success of future fuel projects  and also the need for California to invest in locating biomass plants near the Forest to facilitate biomass removal that could create energy, wood products, and local jobs.”

 

“FSM believes we have a duty and responsibility to engage with local communities and partners to help build our capacity to plan for and implement future fuel reduction projects and post wildfire recovery/restoration efforts,” Amador concludes.

 

Jon Barrett, Project Manager for the Resource Conservation District of Tehama County, stressed the importance of continued collaboration with stakeholders during project development in an effort to address environmental concerns before they become wrapped up in the legal process, stalling much needed project implementation in an effort to get in front of the fuel loads in Forest.

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