Posts by Carolyn Lott

Some of the other partners who have been involved include the Yosemite Stanislaus Solutions collaborative, the Stanislaus National Forest, and the Tuolumne River Trust. Read more here:  Mymotherlode article and here:  Union Democrat Article

At its most recent meeting, the state agency (SNC) approved a $920,000 grant to the Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians to complete the environmental planning efforts for a 2,895 acre forest health project on tribal land. The Tribe’s land management plan aims to reduce fuels to protect forests and infrastructure from wildfires and drought. Read more here: Full Article

In an interview, the first thing that Supervisor Kuiken pointed to was the efforts of a collaborative group called Yosemite Stanislaus Solutions.

“After decades of adversarial “wrangling” over forest management policy, 25 local industry, environmental, and recreational groups decided it was time to focus on what we could agree on,” said Mike Albrecht, president, Associated California Loggers.

“When we sat down together, we found out we agreed on a lot, and so Yosemite Stanislaus Solutions (YSS) was born. YSS agreed to salvage logs from the Rim Fire, get it reforested, develop a fuel break network to protect our local communities, and restore meadows, streams, and wetlands to better health,” Albrecht said. “This agreement has gotten us national attention and subsequent funding to undertake large “landscape level” forest management projects. This would not have been accomplished without the close 3-way partnership between Tuolumne County, YSS, and the U.S. Forest Service. Kudos to everyone that has worked so hard to make this happen!” Read more:  https://forestpolicypub.com/2024/02/29/tsw-exclusive-a-tale-of-two-serals-making-landscape-scale-resilience-happen-with-the-stanislaus-forest-and-yss/

This past weekend, Forest Service employees, including Stanislaus National Forest Supervisor Jason Kuiken, rolled up their sleeves and got to work unloading a truck full of seedlings at the Groveland Ranger District. In all, the forest received 355 boxes of sugar pine, Douglas fir, and incense cedar saplings. Read more here:  https://www.mymotherlode.com/news/local/3315822/planting-trees-to-replenish-forest-in-the-rim-fire-burn-scar.html?ct=t(RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN)

SONORA, Calif. (January 11, 2024) – In an incredible show of faith and recognition for work already accomplished, the Stanislaus National Forest recently received its annual budget for work on the Stanislaus Wildfire Crisis Strategy Landscape of $57.6 million.

“This funding level is a clear indicator that we are on the right path with our work and should continue at full speed,” said Stanislaus National Forest Supervisor, Jason Kuiken. “Not only is that apparent as people drive up Highway 108 and see with their own eyes the work, but it’s an acknowledgement all the way from Washington, D.C. that this work should continue.”

Part of the Forest Services’ Wildfire Crisis Strategy, the Stanislaus National Forest is currently into year three of a ten-year, 305,000 acres project to reduce fuel loads on the forest through a variety of methods to include mechanical thinning and the application of prescribed fire.

“We are extremely proud of all of the work done by staff on the forest, but it must be noted that additionally, we could not have accomplished anywhere near the pace and scale of these accomplishments were in not for our partnership with Tuolumne County and the Yosemite Stanislaus Solutions Collaborative (YSS),” said Kuiken.

Noting YSS member group Tuolumne River Trust was responsible for project management and inspection on fuels reduction contracts award by Tuolumne County, Kuiken was keen to point out their efforts were critical in increasing Forest Service capacity.

“We are excited to be able to continue to make progress on the work we began several years ago. The partnership between the Stanislaus National Forest and the Yosemite Stanislaus Solutions collaborative is truly a model with few comparisons anywhere else in the country. Like so many people who live, work, and recreate in and around the Stanislaus National Forest, I am grateful that our nearby forest and watershed health will be protected for years to come.”

Comprised of outdoor enthusiast, conservations organization and industry partners, the Yosemite Stanislaus Solutions has been critical in the success of the Wildfire Crisis Landscape.

“After decades of adversarial “wrangling” over forest management policy, 25 local industry, environmental, and recreational groups decided it was time to focus on what we could agree on,” said Mike Albrecht, president, Associated California Loggers.

“When we sat down together, we found out we agreed on a lot, and so Yosemite Stanislaus Solutions (YSS) was born. YSS agreed to salvage logs the Rim Fire, get it reforested, develop a fuel break network to protect our local communities, and restore meadows, streams, and wetlands to better health,” Albrecht said. “This agreement has gotten us national attention and subsequent funding to undertake large “landscape level” forest management projects. This would not have been accomplished without the close 3-way partnership between Tuolumne County, YSS, and the U.S. Forest Service. Kudos to everyone that has worked so hard to make this happen!

To learn more about the Stanislaus Landscape project, please visit the Forest’s dedicated Stanislaus Landscape website at  https://www.fs.usda.gov/goto/STFLandscape.

Questions or concerns should be directed to Stanislaus National Forest Public Affairs Officer, Benjamin Cossel, benjamin.cossel@usda.gov, 209.288.6261.

A 20-year experiment in the north-central Sierra Nevada recently confirmed what many local, state and federal agencies have been saying for years — that forest management techniques such as prescribed burning, restoration thinning, or a combination of both, effectively reduce risks of catastrophic wildfire in California.  Read more here:  https://www.uniondemocrat.com/news/article_49296bda-b029-11ee-95f7-171698d01d03.html?utm_source=uniondemocrat.com&utm_campaign=%2Fnewsletters%2Flists%2Fheadlines%2F%3F-dc%3D1704988814&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline

Read more here: https://www.mymotherlode.com/news/local/3274506/fueling-a-storyboard-for-tuolumne-county-wildfire-protection.html?ct=t(RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN)

The SERAL 2.0 proposal includes the use of prescribed fire, hand thinning, mastication, mechanical forest thinning, non-native invasive weed control, and limited salvage operations. The project’s objectives include increasing landscape resilience to wildfires and other disturbances; to reduce the spread of non-native vegetation; to reduce safety hazards across public lands; and to provide economic opportunities to local communities.  Read more at:  Union Democrat Article

Mike Albrecht said, “Yosemite Stanislaus Solutions continues to emphasize proactive forest management policies and practices to get ahead of the problem, including “thin the forests before they burn; after thinning, reintroduce prescribed fire into the forest; continue to develop strategic fuel breaks; and when the forest does burn, salvage the burned timber while it retains value and then replant the burned areas as quickly as possible.”

John Buckley, executive director of the Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center in Twain Harte, is also active with Yosemite Stanislaus Solutions. An immediate lesson learned was that doing scattered piecemeal fuel reduction projects, timber sales, mastication of brush, and isolated prescribed burns simply wasn’t going to be enough to prevent more Rim Fire type catastrophes. “That led the YSS forest stakeholder group to come together stronger than ever before to work to get tens of millions of dollars in grants to supplement the work that the Forest Service was already planning to accomplish,” Buckley said.

The funding stems from the Master Stewardship Agreement Tuolumne County has with the Stanislaus National Forest and the Yosemite Stanislaus Solutions group.  The money will benefit the SERAL project that is focused on forest restoration efforts across 117,000 acres in the Stanislaus National Forest. Read more here: https://www.mymotherlode.com/news/local/3210167/3-7-million-approved-for-forestry-efforts-in-tuolumne-county.html?ct=t(RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN)

Bolstered by a $55.1 million dollar investment from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we have begun the required work of thinning the forest to a stand density the best available science tells us is proper for healthy forests. We’ve begun building fuel breaks around those communities at serious risk for wildfire — an added layer of security for those residents and a location fire fighters can make a stand, and we are moving to protect the critical infrastructure dotting our landscape without which our communities would perish.

All of this is being done in a way that brings our varied stakeholders to the forefront of our efforts. Working in concert with Tuolumne County and the 31-member collaborative Yosemite Stanislaus Solutions as our major partner groups, we can more deftly engage from conception to execution. The challenge before us is vast, and the only way in which we will succeed is by partnering with our stakeholders to find common ground and bring forth the future we all want to see.  Read more here:  https://www.uniondemocrat.com/news/article_0d967b86-fa93-11ed-8edd-8334a80438ec.html?utm_source=uniondemocrat.com&utm_campaign=%2Fnewsletters%2Flists%2Fheadlines%2F%3F-dc%3D1685026805&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline

Partners with the corps include Mother Lode Job Training; Columbia College; Sierra Resource Management; Yosemite Adult School; Cal Fire Local 2881; National Federation of Federal Employees; Forest Service Council 2995; Associated California Loggers; Sierra Pacific Industries; TuCare; Tuolumne River Trust; Yosemite Stanislaus Solutions; and the Sierra Resource Conservation District.  Read more at:  https://www.uniondemocrat.com/news/article_201e68da-ef77-11ed-9344-ab362add5b83.html?utm_source=uniondemocrat.com&utm_campaign=%2Fnewsletters%2Flists%2Fheadlines%2F%3F-dc%3D1683817219&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline

Of note, just under $7-million will fund the fourth phase of a landscape restoration effort within the 2013 Rim Fire footprint. Over 257,000 acres were burned and 90,000 acres suffered high-intensity fire damage. The money will help prepare, reforest, and treat, over 3,000 acres. Read more here:  https://www.mymotherlode.com/news/local/3060178/nearly-7-million-awarded-for-rim-fire-reforestation.html?ct=t(RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN)

One of 10 landscapes identified in the Forest Service’s 2022 initial landscape investment as part of the Wildfire Strategy, the 10-year Stanislaus Landscape Project will look to treat more than 245,000 acres through a full suite of necessary methods including the use of prescribed fire at the landscape scale. It was selected as a fireshed where the greatest impact can be made on reducing wildfire risk and protecting communities. Read more at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/features/protecting-stanislaus-landscape