Posts by Carolyn Lott

The project is billed as the largest green forest management project in the 124-year history of the Stanislaus National Forest. The project is planned on an area that totals 118,808 acres of public and private lands, including 94,823 acres in Forest Service jurisdiction, according to Katie Wilkinson, a project team leader and environmental coordinator for the Stanislaus National Forest. Read more at:  https://www.uniondemocrat.com/news/article_775a8d6e-03e0-11ed-8415-cfadbed3a8f3.html?utm_source=uniondemocrat.com&utm_campaign=%2Fnewsletters%2Flists%2Fheadlines%2F%3F-dc%3D1657983607&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline

SONORA, CALIF. (June 29, 2022) – Over the past few decades, the lands we rely on for clean water, recreation opportunities, habitat, natural resources, clean air and much more have increasingly been impacted by insect, disease and drought mortality, wildland fire, exacerbated by climate change. These impacts have altered ecosystem function and resiliency. While the challenges to reduce these impacts are great, through our research partners and collaborative network, we have enhanced our shared understanding of the type and scale of treatments necessary to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildland fire, insect, disease and drought mortality.

As such, we are very pleased to announce the second Record of Decision (“ROD-2”) titled “A Significant Step Toward Resiliency” of the Social and Ecological Resilience Across the Landscape (SERAL) project on the Stanislaus National Forest was signed by Jason Kuiken this morning (June 29, 2022). This project, developed through wonderful collaboration with Yosemite Stanislaus Solutions (YSS), was designed to restore forest resilience and reduce the landscapes susceptibility to negative effects of natural disturbances.

“The SERAL project was developed through a collective, collaborative effort of numerous community members, collaborative partners, research experts, and Forest Service employees. SERAL came to fruition after many years of individual, smaller scale efforts. And through this collaborative effort we have been able to better understand and address a plethora of varied interests and concerns to leverage all of the knowledge, past experiences, new technologies, new planning tools, and new relationships into a project that is designed to affect real change on the landscape. The actions I am authorizing in this decision chart a new course to success. As is often said, the sum is worth more than the parts and this decision is proof of that philosophical standard,” said Jason Kuiken, Stanislaus National Forest – Forest Supervisor and SERAL’s Responsible Official.

“A healthy and resilient forest holds the key to wildlife conservation, providing world class recreation and attracting visitors to our shared public lands, which is critical to our local and regional economy. For our affected community, the work to achieve and maintain the project’s objectives will provide the raw material for local timber and biomass facilities for years to come. The actions implemented through this SERAL Decision will ensure that the places we work and play in are more able to withstand an uncertain future, and the project will be a model that forests across the western United States can adopt,” said Kuiken.

As part of the NEPA process, the FEIS and ROD were updated during the Administrative Review Process. The total, there is much to be proud of collectively for the thoughtful consideration, engagement, and attention that went into this effort.

To view the updated FEIS and the Decision signed today (“ROD-2”) visit the project website at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=56500

Sonora, CA — California’s Sierra Nevada Conservancy approved spending $21-million for various forest resilience projects, with a big chunk of it coming to the Mother Lode region.

$3.5-million was awarded for phase one of the Social and Ecological Resilience Across the Landscape (SERAL) project. It is taking place in eastern Tuolumne County near the communities of Mi-Wuk, Long Barn and Strawberry.  Read more at:  https://www.mymotherlode.com/news/local/2596991/millions-of-state-dollars-coming-for-local-forestry-projects.html?ct=t(RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN)

A potentially game-changing effort to prevent megafires is rolling out in the woods up past Sonora.

The federal government granted $55 million in April for prescribed burning, selective logging and other work in and near the Stanislaus National Forest.

It grew out of a consensus among local business and environmental groups that the trees and brush have become unnaturally dense.  Read more here:  https://eedition.modbee.com/popovers/dynamic_article_popover.aspx?artguid=6ccd3b70-71f9-4165-b28e-5d2893144482

Based on results of years of scientific research and planning, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service released “Confronting the Wildfire Crisis:  A Strategy for Protecting Communities and Improving Resilience in America’s Forests” in January 2022. As outlined in the Implementation Plan, the goal of this process was to identify landscapes that (1)have projects that are at scale or can be built out to scale, (2) are outcome driven, (3) are collaboratively
developed with communities and ready for implementation, (4) allow for investment in underserved communities, (5) could leverage current partner investments, and (6) could maximize use of existing authorities. Read more here:  WCS-Initial-Landscape-Investments

Overgrown forests are one of the key contributing factors to the current wildfire crisis in the West. The new Forest Service strategy on Confronting the Wildfire Crisis outlines the agency’s plan for increasing fuels and forest health treatments to create healthier forests and reduce the risk to communities. Read more at: Science says Thinned Forests are Healthy

As an environmentalist, I am deeply frustrated by misinformation in the Feb. 15 Bee opinion piece by anti-logging activist Chad Hanson. The thrust of his claims was that a highly publicized new study by forest scientists intentionally omitted key information and that large Sierra Nevada wildfires supposedly kill few mature trees. He claimed the scientists who authored the study were funded by the U.S. Forest Service, and that the agency will benefit from the commercial logging promoted by the scientific study. Read more at: John Buckley Answers Chad Hanson 22-3

The big project is named Social and Ecological Resilience Across the Landscape, or SERAL, and it’s been born from an ongoing partnership between the federal Forest Service, the collaborative Yosemite Stanislaus Solutions group, and Tuolumne County. Other partners include Sierra Pacific Industries, the Tuolumne River Trust, and the Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center in Twain Harte. Read the full article at: Forest Service takes major step forward on historically massive Tuolumne County project 22-2

by John Buckley

As rains dampen California’s drought-stressed forests and reduce the risk of high-severity wildfires, it’s critical for California residents to recognize some basic truths about forests, climate change, wildfires, smoke, and precious places on public forest lands. Read more here:Middle ground needed on forest management issues 21-10-31

August 17th marks the 8th anniversary of the Rim Fire, which, at the time, was the third largest fire in the history of California. The fire started at the confluence of the Tuolumne and Clavey rivers and burning 257,314 acres in forest and shrublands including 154,530 acres on the Stanislaus National Forest. Read the full press release here:  Rim Fire 8th Anniversary (1)

Sonora, Calif.— August 13, 2021. Tuolumne County and Yosemite Stanislaus Solutions received
$5 million for a CAL FIRE Healthy Forest grant to begin implementation of the Social and Ecological
Resilience Across the Landscape (SERAL) project designed to make local communities and forests
resilient to largescale fire, insect, and drought disturbances.  Read more in this press release: YSS_TC_STF Partner NR_Final20210814

About $5 million was designated to Tuolumne County and Yosemite Stanislaus Solutions, a local collaborative work­ing group of industry and environmental interests, which Peterson said will involve the installation of fuel breaks within the Stanislaus National For­est to slow or contain po­tentials fires within that region. Read more here:  union democrat calfire grant 13aug21 (2)