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Latest research in fire science focus of free webinar series
Wildfire, cultural and prescribed burns, plant flammability among topics covered
Interested in learning about some of the latest research in fire science and stewardship? Join the UC ANR Fire Network for a series of free lunchtime webinars to explore fire science topics with colleagues from across the globe.
This four-part webinar series will address fire in land management, plant flammability, fire history and management and forestry and fuel profiles.
Everyone is welcome to watch the Hot Topics in Fire Science and Stewardship Webinar Series.
Restoring Fire to Meadows and Other Cultural Landscapes
Presenters: Alice Lincoln-Cook, California Indian Basketweavers Association; Brian Peterson, Fire Forward
- May 29, noon–12:45 p.m. Pacific Time
- Register by May 29: https://bit.ly/3Qksc0J
How Can We Assess Plant Flammability?
Presenters: Jane Cawson, University of Melbourne; Max Moritz, UC Santa Barbara and UC ANR
- June 5, 3–3:45 p.m. Pacific Time
- Register by June 4: https://bit.ly/3WetrlA
Nuances in Fire History and Management: Lessons from Oregon Presenters: Andrew Merschel, U.S. Forest Service Pacific Northwest; Chris Dunn, Oregon State University
- June 12, noon–12:45 p.m. Pacific Time
- Register by June 11: https://bit.ly/44fMU7u
Forestry and Fuel Profiles
Presenters: Don Radcliffe, University of Washington; Eric Knapp, U.S. Forest Service Pacific Southwest
- July 17, noon–12:45 p.m. Pacific Time
- Register by July 16: https://bit.ly/4aTqI5Q
For more information, visit https://ucanr.edu/sites/fire/Home_430/Events.
Connecting California’s forest landowners with California Tree School
While trees and forests are often emblematic of constancy in a fast-paced world, our state's forests are actually changing before our eyes. Since 2020, the UC ANR Forest Stewardship Education (FSE) program has been helping California's forest landowners be proactive about the inevitable shifts their forestland will experience. The Forest Stewardship and Post-Fire Forest Resilience workshop programs use an online educational format, which guide landowners through the basics of creating forest management plans and managing post-fire landscapes, respectively. Now, the FSE team is piloting a new program to engage a wider audience of forest landowners and community members passionate about trees.
This spring, the Forest Stewardship and UC ANR Fire Network teams are holding the first California Tree School, where individuals attend multiple in-person classes on the forestry topics they are most curious about. “The existing online programs are very focused on forest management plans and post-fire activity, and [Tree School] lets us tackle other topics,” said UC ANR forest and natural resources advisor Susie Kocher.
A one-stop shop for continuing forestry education
California Tree School was inspired when Forest Stewardship Academic Coordinator Kim Ingram, Post-fire Academic Coordinator Katie Reidy and Kocher attended Oregon State University Extension's Tree School event in Clackamas County, Oregon. OSU Tree School is a day-long experience comprised of classes that cover the different dimensions of forestry: constructing a house from your own timber, carbon cap and trade, and buying portable sawmills are just a small sampling of the options for attendees. OSU Tree School students ranged from forest landowners to community college students, contributing to a space which would facilitate community connections as well as learning.
Kocher described the experience as a “a great one-day, one-stop shop to keep up-to-date on what we [forest landowners and professionals] should know.” Excited by the breadth of opportunities offered at OSU's Tree School, Ingram, Kocher and Reidy were inspired to bring the format to California.
“It's our time to discuss the whole ecosystem,” noted Reidy. “Tree School is bringing in the trustworthy, reliable group of experts who can provide more information on the questions pertaining to landowners' specific goals.”
California Tree School will be offered in two locations this spring, with CA Tree School- Hopland taking place on May 4, and CA Tree School- El Dorado on June 1. Similar to OSU's Tree School, attendees are expected to be a mix of forest landowners, natural resource professionals and interested community members.
Connecting statewide professionals; personalizing forestry education
Tree School offers attendees the opportunity to focus on subjects that pertain to their specific learning needs. This personalized approach is a new foray for the Forest Stewardship team, but is something that Ingram says workshop participants have been wanting for some time.
“Our participants never think they learn enough. They are always asking for more information, and this Tree School gives us the chance to expand on things we might not have had a chance to go over in the workshop series,” remarked Ingram. Additionally, Tree School instructors had creative freedom when it came to developing their classes, from the topic to the class format. This is evident when browsing through each session's class catalog. CA Tree School attendees choose four classes to attend, meaning they can build their first burn pile, understand the ins and outs of regional wildlife, paint outdoors and learn how to aid statewide reforestation efforts all in one day.
“I felt that Tree School created a sense of trust around complex topics,” noted Reidy about her experience last year in Oregon. For CA Tree School, the Forest Stewardship team aims to do the same. This meant recruiting from throughout the UC ANR network and other organizations, including CALFIRE and CARCD (California Association of Resource Conservation Districts), to bring trusted voices to the community.
“What's exciting about Tree School is that we are bringing natural resource professionals from all around to engage everyone at the same time, and all in one place,” noted Ingram.
The team is excited to see all the connections that will be made between community members and professionals during this pilot year, and “if this is successful and we can bring it back next year,” commented Kocher, “we are definitely interested in partnering with more people and expanding our outreach.”
Making CA Tree School an in-person experience was important to the team, as much of the education is hands-on. Additionally, Kocher sees enhanced potential for building personal connections: “In person, you have this opportunity for people to identify as part of a community,” noted Kocher, “So I'm excited for people to hang out with each other.”
Encouraging an informed community
“You can't separate the emotional from the physical, and there are a lot of topics in forestry like wildfire and economics that can be a bit of a downer,” said Ingram. “I'm excited to help create a positive learning environment, and one that encourages folks to turn to UC Cooperative Extension for these resources.”
“Our main goal here is to get science out there,” concurred Reidy. “The more exposure people have to science, the more confident they feel in themselves and their wants and needs.”
Forest research and outreach compiles forestry voices in new story map project
For the past four years, Kim Ingram has been listening closely to the private forest landowners who participate in her Forest Stewardship Workshop series. During the workshops, landowners share their experiences clearing thickets of vegetation, replanting post-wildfire and tackling invasive species, and their concerns of who will take care of their forest when they're gone.
To alleviate their stress, Ingram–Forest Stewardship Education coordinator with University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources–turns to natural resource professionals from CAL FIRE, local Resource Conservation Districts, and the U.S Forest Service who can share knowledge and resources with participants. Recently, Ingram developed a story map that aims to provide landowners with a platform they can use to share their experiences and ways that they have been empowered to manage their land.
"It's not uncommon for small forest landowners to feel overwhelmed with their forest management responsibilities and uncertain over what steps to take first," said Ingram. "Through the Forest Stewardship Workshops and this story map project, we hope to show that there is an entire community of forest landowners in the same situation, learning from each other and moving forward towards their management goals."
The Forest Stewardship Story Map team used ArcGIS StoryMaps to design the project, with 15 participants providing interviews and visual content. StoryMaps provides a user-friendly interface where website visitors can either click on a county to view specific interviews or scroll to view the stories.
The forestry team plans to interview at least one landowner and natural resource professional in every forested county in California so private forest landowners have a local contact or can become inspired by a project in their area.
Theresa Ciafardoni, a forest landowner in Nevada County, said that the UC ANR Forest Stewardship Workshop helped her manage postfire restoration and long-term land use planning.
"It opened up so many options and possibilities," said Ciafardoni. "All the individuals who presented in the Forest Stewardship Workshop were open to phone calls for specific questions and provided invaluable technical assistance."
Involving landowners and forestry professionals with this project was an early decision made by Ingram, who believed it was important that the map held appeal beyond hosting stories. Now, the project functions as a networking tool for landowners seeking professional assistance, too.
Past Forest Stewardship Workshop presenters shared their contact information and the motivations behind their forest management work so that landowners could find assistance in their area. The professionals currently hosted on the map include Resource Conservation District managers, UC ANR forestry advisors and private contractors.
"The most motivated landowners are invested not only economically, but their heart is into it," said Ryan Tompkins, UC Cooperative Extension forestry advisor for Plumas, Sierra and Lassen counties. "The natural world is full of uncertainty, but they're committed to continuing education and learning about how to be a good land steward. This takes a certain level of humility recognizing that our tenure as a steward on the land is a very short period of a forest's lifetime."
Looking ahead, the team envisions the map as a working document that will eventually include interviews with indigenous tribal members who focus on traditional ecological knowledge projects, interviews and information from the UC ANR Postfire Forest Resilience Program, and a feature that will filter stories by topic (e.g. reforestation or prescribed burning).
"This isn't a project that could be completed by one person," explained Grace Dean, Forest Stewardship communications specialist. "The same way that Kim and other presenters explain forest management as a collaborative process holds true for this project."
The Forest Stewardship Workshop series gives participants the ability to start as beginners and build upon their knowledge and experiences. In the same vein, this story map provides the Forest Stewardship team a solid base of real stories to add on to over time. The hope is that it will grow into a multifaceted tool reaching new forest landowners, eventually enveloping their stories within the small forest landowner community.
To view the Forest Stewardship Story Map, visit: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/bd062108d9894da7920d7aef06fe2c2c.
Top 10 tools for new forest landowners
Earth Day 2023 celebrates the ways in which we can all invest in our planet, and forest landowners play a considerable role in this. Part of being a forest landowner is deciding where and when to invest your time, money and energy. To assist them, the UC Cooperative Extension Forest Research and Outreach team collaborated with four experienced landowners to highlight 10 tools a first-time forest landowner can invest in.
Listed below, these 10 tools expand past saws and rakes to include tools that educate landowners and support their management activities. We hope this compilation gives readers new to forest management a proper start.
1. Management Goals: Every tool a new forest landowner buys should help advance a management goal. Each of the four interviewees emphasized that understanding what you and your land need is the number-one priority to be investing time and effort into.
“That's my management goal: a healthy forest with as much biology as I can support. Keeping the big trees, letting fire in every once in a while…and correcting the problems we've caused in the past. The species we have here now, it's mostly white fir. People took out the Douglas Fir, the Sugar Pine and you have to do enough thinning to replant those species because they're not coming in that fast underneath the dense fir forest.”
-Brent, Nevada County
2. Pruning and Cross-cut saws: When completing thinning or clearing projects, every forest landowner has their go-to saws. Cross-cut saws are used for cutting down trees, whereas pruning saws cut away dead or diseased branches. Don't forget to look outside of the box for your tools, as one landowner told us about her preference for Japanese tools.
“My Japanese pruning saw… it cuts like butter! It can easily take down trees up to four inches in diameter. The Japanese-made tools, they're smoother and sharper.”
-Danica, Sonoma County
3. A McLeod was cited by each of the four landowners as a must-have tool in every forest landowner's tool kit. One side can be used as a hoe and the other side as a rake, making it useful for activities ranging from trail building to raking in brush for a pile burn.
“For pitching stuff in and raking things out [of a pile burn], you're going to need a McLeod. And if you want to clear a brush pile, it's heavy. And it [the McLeod] works really well for that.”
-Brent, Nevada County
4. Succession or legacy plan: Thinking about who will take care of your land after you is a key aspect of successful forest management. However, bequeathing land to a family member isn't the only option. You could also consider donating your land to a local tribe or to group like the Nature Conservancy.
“[Regarding legacy] On the forest that we manage, we have a conservation easement so it can't be developed. But it doesn't stop it from being logged…How do you conserve? How do you decide? You can let an organization manage it, but it might be in their interest to thin [the forest]. I'll do what I can - I'll set it up for you [the next generation] and hope that there's a shift in the future and we'll learn to steward our resources.”
-Brent, Nevada County
5. Weed Wrench: What to do when you encounter an unwanted plant? When restoring native plants and clearing unwanted invasives, some species are more difficult to uproot than others. If your garden shears aren't cutting it, reach for a weed wrench like the one here.
“I have a lot of bay laurel and there's a lot of saplings that come up and they resprout vigorously. You have to literally pull it out by the root…so I use a weed wrench, and that's been a really valuable tool for me. It's also good for Scotch Broom, anything that has a small diameter neck that you can clamp on to and leverage out.”
-Sacha, Humboldt County
6. Newsletters: Sometimes reading about what other landowners are doing can help you find inspiration for management activities. The Forestland Steward newsletter, which covers general forest management news and events, would be a good place for a new landowner to begin. Additionally, subscribing to newsletters that cater to your region and management goals is a simple way to find applicable management recommendations.
“I subscribe to a bunch of email newsletters, and those are constantly talking about…like, what upcoming events are going on? What are educational conferences going on? I'm constantly getting research articles, casual writings, webinars…For me, I'm personally interested in good fire, so I subscribe to a lot of resources that are focused on using fire as a land management tool.”
-Sacha, Humboldt County
7. Record keeping: Come tax season, you will thank yourself for investing time in keeping records of your management activities. If you find yourself receiving funding in the form of grants, conservation easements or other programs, having a trusted tax advisor or accountant should be a consideration. A close collaborator with the Forest Stewardship Program, Larry Camp, (Registered Professional Forester, forest landowner and retired IRS agent) notes, “Treating your forestland as a business or investment is an important step forward in efficiently managing your forest and can lead to incentives and deductions that will legally reduce your tax burden.”
8. Land History: For many forest landowners, learning about indigenous history is not only fascinating, but a thoughtful reminder of the original caretakers of California forestland. Investigate your land and delve into Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), which may inspire new projects.
“When we're talking about land and access to land, I think it's always good to be thinking about tribal sovereignty, and what are actions we can do to support that. Historically, this [land] was an oak woodland…we're playing catch up over 150 years of fire suppression policies. I'm working towards oak woodland restoration, and part of that is that tie-in to responsibility to tribal access.”
-Sacha, Humboldt County
9. Management education resources: Though we at UCCE have our own Forest Stewardship Workshop series, there are often informational webinars and videos offered through regional organizations. The California Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force website has a list of educational resources for landowners, found here.
“I'm big on education, and when you're participating in that educational group, they [program participants] might throw out a different name, or a different agency you can use. It's really about being involved and taking up the suggestions that people give you.”
-Laura, Nevada County
10. Community: Getting connected with organizations like your local Resource Conservation District (RCD), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), CAL FIRE, or UC Cooperative Extension (UCCE) office can be a big help to new landowners. These organizations house experts such as Registered Professional Foresters (RPFs) who can provide technical assistance and assist in applying for permits or drafting a management plan. Devote time looking into region-specific organizations such as the Foothill Conservancy and My Sierra Woods that service multiple counties. Peer networks are a plus as well. Community ties were continuously cited by the forest landowners we spoke to as being a valuable resource.
“Try to figure out what organizations are around you that are doing stuff. Around here, there's the Mid-Klamath Watershed Council, and they'll have invasive plant removal days, and you can go and volunteer. Doing something like that, where you're hands-on and connecting with other people is what I'd suggest.”
-Sacha, Humboldt County
“My community…is definitely close knit, because it's tough! It's a lot of work. And, you know, if I'm renting a chipper and it's up at my property and someone else wants to use it, they can. It's very, very helpful to be close with your neighbors and learn from them.”
-Laura, Nevada County
Project Learning Tree: Shaping the future of California forests
On this International Day of Forests, we at UC Cooperative Extension Forest Research and Outreach invite you to celebrate the future of California's trees with us. Considering the recent news coverage regarding tree mortality in California, we want to instead view this subject through a lens of hope. For it's not just the news outlets witnessing the extent of forest die-off: children, especially those in forested communities, are seeing the effects of drought, wildfire, and fire suppression policies in real time.
Project Learning Tree is a national education program leading the next generation to witness and then act on these changes. Children are the future of our forests, and we think the efforts of Project Learning Tree are a cause for celebration, don't you?
Last month, Californians may have noticed a marked uptick in the news coverage of the state's forests. Local, state and national news outlets all reported on the startling approximation of 36 million trees that perished between 2021 and 2022. This number, gleaned from USDA Forest Service data, is a startling jump from the 9.5 million trees that perished the year before. The future of California's forests does not have to look like this, with large fluctuations and ever-rising numbers of dying trees. Right now, it's not easy being a tree. In 10 or 20 years? We're hopeful that the situation is different.
Project Learning Tree (PLT), stretches across the nation to connect students to forests, even if they live miles away from one. Jonelle Mason, the PLT coordinator for Northern California region, provided more insight into the program's purpose through a sentiment many may be familiar with: “To quote Jane Goodall, ‘Only if we understand, will we care. Only if we care, we will help.'” Project Learning Tree is one piece in the future of forest stewardship, and as Jonelle sees it, “Forming forest-education generations creates passionate advocates. People can't save what they don't know about.”
A point touched on by nearly all news outlets covering tree mortality was the centuries of fire suppression practices and its ripple effects that amplify drought and wildfire damage. Students in California are aware of natural disasters affecting forests and forested communities, but not necessarily the causes.Mason posits that in closing that knowledge gap, PLT can “cultivate environmental defenders [who] will ultimately push us in the right direction.”
A crucial aspect of Project Learning Tree is that it exists as a continuing education program, meant to follow students from kindergarten to senior year of high school. Each year of learning builds upon the last, yet the topics are given nuance and depth even at the elementary school level. For instance, PLT's flagship K-8 curriculum gives second grade teachers the tools to communicate ecosystem services, plant structure and natural resource cultivation. High school teachers following the “Focus on Forests” education guide will find avenues to introduce concepts like environmental policy, and will help students understand the difficult decisions that many forest landowners face.
It does indeed give us a reason to celebrate the future. Young people are more active in the conversations surrounding the environment and climate change, and are aware that something must be done to protect the natural resources they have left. It's vital to translate that passion and interest into true learning, where a classroom can become the space for developing ideas for what can be done about our state's forests. Mason is quick to point out the core tenant of PLT that makes it unique: “Teaching students how to think, not what to think, about environmental concerns.”
Project Learning Tree presents concepts to students and gives them the tools to think critically through the many fields that touch forests, from the natural sciences to philosophy. California's youth has a vested interest in protecting and managing their forests, and programs like PLT give us hope that the interest can truly be translated to action.
If you are interested in bringing Project Learning Tree to your school or home, you can contact Mason at jmason@ucanr.edu.
