Our next meeting will be at 6:00 pm on Tuesday July 5th at Turtle Rock Park. Susie Kocher, a Forestry Advisor with the University of California Cooperative Extension, will be presenting the results of her research on recovering from wildfire in Sierra Nevada Forests. She has studied what worked and what didn’t work after the 2007 Angora Fire in the Tahoe Basin.
Abstract: Wildfires are burning large areas at high intensity throughout the Sierra Nevada. Active post-fire restoration is needed in many areas after high severity fire to help forests persist. This talk will go over post fire resource concerns and actions with a focus on the status of the 2007 Angora fire area. For those that want to read ahead, a related paper Susie co-authored can be found here.
Biography: Susie Kocher is an extension forester for the University of California Cooperative Extension in the Central Sierra. She is directing two current initiatives – hosting forest stewardship education workshops for private forest landowners across the state and conducting prescribed fire education in the Central Sierra. She is starting a new post-fire outreach and education program with funding from the US Forest Service. She is a member of the Small Landowner Assistance work group of the Governor’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force and a registered professional forester.
Biomass-to-Bioenergy: There will be an initiative on the November ballot to ban all biomass related facilities in eastern Alpine County. Based on what the proponents have filed to date there is a lot of misinformation and disinformation circulating within the community. At this point there is no project proposal, and regardless of the results of the initiative there may never be one. There will be a significant effort to educate voters on the issue prior to the November election, although at this time it is not clear what or who will lead the effort. If you are interested in being part of that effort, please contact dGriffith.9@gmail.com.
Miscellaneous: Alpine County is hosting a community meeting on what is happening with regard to restoration of the Tamarack Fire burn scar at Turtle Rock Park from 5 to 7 pm on Tuesday, June 28th. More information is available here. For a great tutorial on adapting western US forests to climate change and wildfires view the story map here. For a webinar on how to build a resilient home or upgrade the resilience of an existing home by adopting mitigation standards into your rebuild. Go here for more information and to register. It is hosted by United Policyholders (a consumer advocate association regarding insurance) and supported by Rural County Representatives of California, the Solano Community Foundation, and the Santa Cruz County Community Foundation.
The Amador-Calaveras Consensus Group (ACCG) and the South Fork of the American River Cohesive Strategy (SOFAR) are holding a Post-Fire Restoration Symposium July 14th and related field tour July 15th. It will highlight ongoing monitoring and research in the Power Fire and its application in post fire restoration planning (e.g., the Tamarack Fire). Registration and more information are available here. The field tour has limited capacity so first come/first serve.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will be hosting an in-person public meeting on the Leviathan Superfund Site in Alpine County at Turtle Rock Park on July 13th. Details to come from the EPA later.
Future Meetings: At the moment we do not have a presentation for an August meeting. Please send suggestions for future speakers to dGriffith.9@gmail.com. Presentations need to be on topics that relate to our mission statement.
Alpine Biomass Collaborative 