California Forests and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Webinar Series

CAL FIRE is granting funds from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) for forestry projects that will reduce or avoid GHG emissions. A total of $42 million has been allocated for the following project types:

Forest health improvement
Reduce wildfire vegetation (fuel) hazards
Increase carbon sequestration in conifer forests and implement research projects on Demonstration State Forests
Reforest degraded lands
Establish and improve urban and community forests
Conserve forestland by avoiding conversion to other uses
Develop programmatic timberland environmental impact reports
Utilize forest biomass

The goal for all projects is to ensure California’s forests continue to be significant carbon storage ”sinks” and to reduce or avoid GHG emissions due to pest damage, wildfires, and loss of forest tree cover from development to non-forest uses. Project applicants must demonstrate reduction of greenhouse gases as a result of implementing the proposed project.

Greenhouse gas reduction and carbon sequestration are new concepts in forestry. As such there are many questions and opportunity for education.

The Northern California Society of American Foresters and the University of California Cooperative Extension, in close collaboration with Cal Fire,will be hosting a webinar series on Forestry and Greenhouse Gas Reduction.

Topics to be addressed include:

Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Program overview,
State of the science and political discourse,
Methods to calculate greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction and carbon sequestration benefits for forest management projects.Experts will discuss GHG estimation procedures for reforestation, fuels reduction projects, and other project types. The webinar will cover data requirements, analytical/modeling options, and monitoring with examples.

Program
11am - 1pm

April 3
    Greenhouse Gas Program Overview
    Dr. Helge Eng, CAL FIRE
    PowerPoint Presentation- Greenhouse Gas Grants
    YouTube Video

    Reforestation
    Richard Harris, UC Cooperative Extension
Specialist- retired; with Joe Sherlock, USDA Forest Service
    PowerPoint Presentation - Introduction
    PowerPoint Presentation - Reforestation Reductions
    YouTube Video

    Fuel Treatments
    Tadashi Moody, Spatial Informatics Group
    PowerPoint Presentation - Greenhouse Gas Emissions for Fuel Treatment
    YouTube Video

April 10
    Conservation Easements for Improved Forest Management or
    Preservation
    Dr. Charles Kerchner, Spatial Informatics Group
    PowerPoint Presentation
    YouTube Video

    Greenhouse Gas Benefits in Oak Woodlands,
    Dr. Tom Scott, UC Cooperative
    Extension, UC Riverside
    PowerPoint Presentation
    YouTube Video

April 13 (12-1pm)
    Carbon calculator tracks the climate benefits of managed private forests
    Dr. William Stewart, UC Cooperative
Extension Forestry Specialist, Co-director, Center for
Forestry & Center for Fire Research and Outreach
  Presentation PDF
  Presentation Recording
Berkeley Carbon Calculator

April 17- Questions and answers with all past presenters participating
YouTube Video

April 24
     Overview of the CA Biomass Power Industry - Past, Present and Future
     Tad Mason, TSS Consultant
     PowerPoint Presentation
     YouTube Video

     Greenhouse Gas Benefits from the Utilization of Forest Waste for Energy for
     Biochar
     Bruce Springsteen, Placer County Air Pollution Control
     PowerPoint Presentation
     YouTube Video

     Forest Biomass Supply Assessment - Key Factors to Consider
     Tad Mason, TSS Consultant
     PowerPoint Presentation
     YouTube Video

May 7
     Carbon and California Forests: Forest Inventory and Analysis Result
     Richard Harris, UC Cooperative Extension Specialist
     PowerPoint Presentation
     YouTube Video

     Overview of Registry Process, CA Cap and Trade Program and California Carbon
     Market
     Arjun Patney, Policy Director, American Carbon Registry
     PowerPoint Presentation
     YouTube Video

     Overview of Current Forestry Projects, Requirements, Opportunities and
     Constraints
     Jessica Orrego, Director of Forestry, American Carbon Registry
     PowerPoint Presentation
     YouTube Video

May 15

Forest Carbon Dynamics in Frequent Fire Forests
Malcom North, Research Forest Ecologist, USDA Forest Service and UC Davis
Joe Sherlock, Region 5 Silviculturalist, USDA Forest Service