The Yosemite-Stanislaus Solutions (YSS) collaborative group is a highly diverse coalition of interests who share a common goal of restoring and maintaining healthy forests and watersheds, fire-safe communities, and sustainable local economies using a science-based approach.
In spring 2010, U.S. Forest Service staff and interested stakeholders participated in a joint field trip to view previously burned areas with restoration needs within the Stanislaus National Forest. As a result of that field session and subsequent discussions, nearly 30 stakeholders agreed that forming a collaborative under the guidance of the Forest Service would aid the potential for increasing the pace and scale of restoration efforts within the southern portion of the Stanislaus Forest and on adjacent Park Service, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and private lands. Throughout 2012 and 2013, YSS continued their work holding field trips and resource discussions to promote restoration treatments across the region. Membership expanded, and common goals and concerns of the member agencies led to further coordination with county leaders, resource user representatives, businesses, and other interested parties to support expanded forest management and restoration treatments.
2014’s devastating Rim Fire severely damaged a vast portion of YSS’s focus landscape. Due to the massive amount of restoration planning that was needed, the value of collaborative support became even more evident. With so much national attention being given to Rim Fire recovery planning and actions, YSS members agreed it was time for YSS to become fully independent. In 2014, YSS approved governance agreements, finalized a new charter, and launched outreach efforts to look for funding to respond to the massive recovery needs of the 402 square miles of the Rim Fire area. During these conversations, YSS members agreed to expand efforts to include improving the health and sustainability of the green forest with an emphasis on protection of communities.
Leading up to 2018, YSS explored a new model that would expand USFS project implementation capacity and also enable greater access to funding. A Master Stewardship Agreement (MSA) was entered into in 2018 on behalf of YSS. The partners include the USFS, Tuolumne County, and the Tuolumne River Trust (TRT). A commitment was made to YSS that no projects will go forward under the MSA unless they are supported by the collaborative. The MSA has enabled the county and TRT to hire and contract out work that augments USFS work. It has also positioned the forest to apply for and receive countless grants that have supported projects in the green forest and the Rim footprint. Because of the success of collaborative and MSA, the local USFS has received increased federal project support.
Because of the proactive approach of YSS, and the willingness of the local forest supervisor and staff, a large landscape specific plan, Social and Ecological Resilience Across the Landscape (SERAL 1.0) was developed for a portion of the green forest. This plan supports a comprehensive treatment of contiguous land to include fuelbreaks for communities, timber harvest, and fuels reduction while protecting important conservation values such as Spotted Owl PACs. The success of SERAL 1.0 led to the development of a second large landscape plan, SERAL 2.0.
At a time when national, regional, and local resource management discussions are often highly polarized and contentious, the YSS collaborative group has effectively brought together representatives of the timber industry, grazing interests, local government, environmental organizations, business interests, motorized recreation groups, state and federal agencies, and other diverse interests. YSS uses the collaborative process to promote balanced, highly informed recommendations, apply for funds, and map out large landscape project areas of focus.
