FAQs

The collaborative process enables responsible agencies and organizations to develop a science-based recovery and restoration approach that will have strong support, beyond that which any one group could accomplish on its own. YSS provides a venue for members to share their ideas and lend their expertise to elements of recovery and restoration efforts, projects on the green forest, and work designed to help fire harden communities. Participation in YSS provides an opportunity to share and document various ideas and perspectives from state, federal, tribal, private, local, regional, conservation, and business interests to gain widespread support and timely implementation of projects on the forest.

Part of the charge of the YSS is to collectively coordinate with public and private land managers to identify and prioritize restoration projects and help find funding for specific projects. To this end the collaborative strives to identify, prioritize, and support sustainable projects that help restore degraded resources and improve and maintain the health of the forest while simultaneously boosting the region’s economy, social well-being, and recreational opportunities.

YSS is funded through grants and donations. The Tuolumne River Trust acts as the fiscal agent for the collaborative. Projects implemented on behalf of YSS are funded through state and federal grants as wells as federal agency funding.

While membership is open, membership is not available for individuals. Groups joining YSS must formally commit to uphold the spirit and guidelines of the YSS Charter. YSS aims for members to make informed decisions. Therefore, new members may participate in decision-making after attending one meeting and committing to understanding the information being analyzed as well as previous collaborative discussions. An official membership form must be submitted by any organization wishing to become a member of YSS.

Where consensus exists, YSS will issue its support and recommendations for projects and plans affecting lands within the boundary of the area of interest. YSS members can also engage individually or through their own organizations in the traditional NEPA or CEQA processes, submitting comments, attending meetings, and filing objections or support.

YSS General Membership generally meets every other month, beginning in January, on the third Friday of the month. The Leadership Team meets more often to provide opportunities for responding to time-sensitive issues, draft recommendations for the General Membership to consider, and to coordinate planning efforts.

YSS promotes large landscape planning and implementation on the green forest. In addition, YSS continues to secure funding and implement restoration projects within the Rim Fire footprint.

The fire started on August 17, 2013, and burned for weeks across a total of 257,314 acres in Tuolumne and Mariposa counties. With 402 square miles contained within the fire’s perimeter, at the time, the Rim Fire became the third largest wildfire in California’s history and the biggest wildfire on record in the Sierra Nevada. The fire was contained on Thursday, October 24, 2013. The fire was named for its proximity to the Rim of the World vista point located along Highway 120 in the Stanislaus Forest. The fire destroyed 11 residences, three commercial buildings, and 98 outbuildings. Significant damage was done to habitat, wildlife, livestock, timber, and rangeland resources.

Activities such as logging, grazing, mining and recreation are all found within the Forest and are regulated by Forest Administration. Today, the Forest is managed for multiple uses to include water uses such as impoundments and hydroelectric projects. For more facts about the Stanislaus National Forest visit: https://www.fs.usda.gov/stanislaus

The mountains within the Forest were shaped by volcanic and glacial action, producing rugged and spectacular topography at high elevations. Each elevation, from 1,500 to over 11,000 feet above sea level, has its own unique vegetation, wildlife, and corresponding temperatures. While the lower elevations are hot and dry, the higher elevations’ meadows are cooled by melting snow. The Forest is home to Sierra mixed conifer, true fir, lodge pole pine and sub-alpine vegetation. Bald eagle, peregrine falcon, spotted owl, fisher, and wolverine have all been reported on the Forest. The Forest is rich in its variety of wildlife and habitat. The Forest is the ancestral home to the Me-Wuk Indians who moved with the seasons and through the landscape of the Sierra for thousands of years. Many archeological sites are found within the Stanislaus Forest.

The Stanislaus National Forest encompasses 898,099 acres on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada; California’s snowcapped mountain range that flanks the Great Central Valley. The Forest is located between Lake Tahoe and Yosemite. It is approximately a two-hour drive from the Great Central Valley and three hours from the San Francisco Bay Area.

The Master Stewardship Agreement (MSA) was entered into on January 18, 2018 on behalf on YSS. The agreement is between Tuolumne County and the USFS. The purpose of the MSA is to increase the pace and scale of forest health projects to build local landscape resilience and to protect communities against catastrophic fire.

By working collaboratively and through a commitment to building and maintaining trust, Tuolumne County, the YSS Leadership Team, and the Stanislaus National Forest work together to develop projects, seek grant funding, and implement projects in the Yosemite Stanislaus Solutions (YSS) project area.

The MSA enables the county and its partner, the Tuolumne River Trust, to provide qualified personnel or contractors to implement tasks identified in the Supplemental Project Agreements (SPAs). These tasks include coordinating and completing design, layout, and preparation that is agreeable to the USFS that is required for projects occurring on National Forest system lands including, but not limited to property boundary surveys and designating treatment unit.