The February meeting was attended by 13 members of the public and agencies. Since no actions were taken there will be no notes for this meeting, only this summary.
Dr. Jonathan Kusel of the Sierra Institute for Community and Environment gave a presentation on the work the Sierra Institute has been doing to restore forests, create jobs, and rebuild hope in the Indian Valley area of Plumas County after a series of wildfires. This culminated with the 2021 Dixie Fire which burned down almost the entire community of Greenville.
Alternative approaches to improving forest health and resilience: A lengthy discussion was held on how best to engage the broader community in addressing the need to restore our forests to a healthy and resilient state. Consensus was reached that the ABC could not take the lead on this as it was associated in the public’s mind with a potential “biomass facility” which was rejected by the voters in Measure D. An informal committee will try to come up with possible alternatives.
Other Items of Interest: Fire is not the only threat to our forests. The Forest Service has released it’s 2022 Aerial Detection Survey of tree mortality in California. Some 36 million trees were killed in California by biological agents during the period between the 2021 and 2022 surveys. In Alpine County the number of trees killed was approximately 1.2 million, mostly California red fire and white fir that were killed by the fir engraver beetle. When there are too many trees for the available nutrients and moisture the trees are stressed and not able to resist pests.
Participant updates: Due to the meeting running late the only update shared was that the Carson Ranger District has a new Deputy District Ranger, Duncan Leo. He has been part of the Humboldt-Toiyabe for many years and at one time was the Acting District Ranger for the Carson Ranger District
Future Meetings: There will be no March meeting and instead people are encouraged to attend a still to be announced meeting that the County will be hosting on the Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP). Suggestions for future topics that are consistent with our mission statement are welcome. Please send suggestions for future speakers to dGriffith.9@gmail.com.
Recognition: A special thanks to Alpine County Health and Human Services Public Health Dept. for the grant that is covering our costs this year. In recognition there will be some public interest messaging promoting a healthy lifestyle in our meetings and this blog.
Alpine Biomass Collaborative 