- Author: Grace Nguyen-Sovan Dean
Before he became the director of forest policy for a timber company, John Andersen was working next door to one. During his time as a consulting forester, several family forests Andersen visited were adjacent to parcels of industrial forestland that had undergone upsetting changes. “I saw what used to be conifer forests essentially transformed into tan oak forests,” Andersen noted. When the Mendocino Redwood Company (MRC) was created in 1998 through the purchase of another industry's forestland, they set out to operate differently.
MRC would be a timber company that prioritized operating sustainably, which interested Andersen. “It was refreshing to see a company that would treat the land right,” he shared. Now, Andersen is the Director of Forest Policy for MRC and the later-established Humboldt Redwood Company (HRC) and an employee for 25 years.
MRC and HRC Business Principles
Within California, over 5.7 million acres of forestland are owned at the family or individual level. It seems fitting that as a family business at heart, MRC/HRC, is guided by similar stewardship principles. “Our family-owned businesses,” Andersen noted, “want to hand the forest down to future generations in a better condition than when the forestlands were purchased.”
“The intention was there from the start,” Andersen explains, with the company working towards goals that would foster forest health and positive community relations.
Policies that have resonated well with community members include commitments to retain old growth trees, restore wildlife habitat, and carefully monitor streams. Forest landowners can also sell their timber to MRC and HRC, as both companies house log buyers which connect with local landowners looking to offset the cost of management projects.
Adapting to Wildfire Risk
The future of timber companies in California is indelibly shaped by the threat of wildfire. For Andersen, the risk became clear in 2020, when the CZU Lightning Complex fires burned nearly 90,000 acres of Santa Cruz forestland. “It's getting to the point where catastrophic wildfires are happening in the redwood region,” Andersen stated. As a result, both MRC and HRC prepared fire risk analyses for their lands.
Andersen shared that while the risk level for company forestland may not be high compared to other portions of the state, the analyses help guide company decision making when locating fuel reduction projects. Both MRC and HRC became more proactive with fuel reduction efforts, including getting involved in prescribed fire projects.
Andersen's position is at the intersection of forestry and policy, a space where he has seen shifts in how legislators respond to wildfire risk. “I don't want to ride the coattails of disaster,” Andersen said, “but it seems like that's what changes minds.” He explains that there is now more support for funding fuels reduction efforts. When legislators visit MRC and HRC forestland, Andersen sees firsthand how quick they understand the urgency to develop fire resilient forests.
Public Information
Information sharing is integral to MRC and HRC, and not just for policymakers. Community members have an open invitation to tour company forestland and make inquiries about forest management practices. “Transparency is important, because the public sees our forestland all the time,” Andersen explained. This encompasses a wealth of information available on the company's website, including forest management plans, watershed analysis reports, and habitat conservation reports.
From Andersen's perspective, both MRC and HRC receiving their Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC® C031337) certification was a big step forward. Independent assessments like this provide MRC and HRC the opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to forest stewardship and sustainability each time a customer buys their lumber. “It's well and fine for us to say we are doing a good job,” Andersen explained, “but it's also important to have third party input to verify we are managing our forests to high standards.”
Looking to the Future
Proactivity on the part of industry is essential to the future health of California's forests. “I want to see the day where we can say our forests are in a fire and drought resilient condition,” Andersen shared. “Then, if there is a fire, we aren't as concerned with the effects.”
- Author: David Liebler
Reposted from UCANR news
On a crisp and clear morning late last year, around 20 volunteer firefighters, landowners and community members gathered on a plot of land outside of the small rural community of Kneeland in Humboldt County. They listened intently to detailed instructions on how to safely burn 20 acres of private property that gradually rises on a hill before them. The volunteers gathered to learn how to successfully undertake a prescribed burn. It was all part of the ongoing education and training being conducted by Humboldt County's Prescribed Burn Association – the first of its kind west of the Rockies.
Lenya Quinn-Davidson and Jeffery Stackhouse, who both work for the UC Cooperative Extension in Humboldt County, developed the program in 2017 and have seen it steadily grow ever since. The association is comprised of landowners, nonprofits, volunteer firefighters and other community members who work together to carry out prescribed burns on private land. Until the association was created, most landowners and community members had lacked access to prescribed burn information and training.
“Fire is a natural part of California's landscape. Prescribed fire is a way for us to bring fire back to the landscape as a natural process under controlled conditions. We can choose the weather, we can choose how it's going to burn,” says Quinn-Davidson. “Private landowners have largely been left out of the fire picture and we realize that is a big part of the problem.”
The goal of the prescribed burn on that October day was to eliminate an invasive type of tree that was overtaking the grassy hill and restore the land to a state where native oaks can thrive once again. The property owners are receiving the same training as the volunteer firefighters on hand. Beyond eliminating invasive species, the association is utilizing prescribed burns to reduce fuels to prevent future wildfires, as well as restore wildlife habitat. But most importantly, the training and education empowers landowners and others to reconnect with fire as a management tool.
Since the Association was created, it has burned more than 1,000 acres in Humboldt County. The association has also been able to build a strong working relationship with CalFIRE, which also conducts prescribed burns on private lands in Humboldt.
Will Emerson is an assistant fire chief for the volunteer Bell Springs Fire Department in northern Mendocino County. He and his three colleagues made the 2.5-hour trip to participate in the prescribed burn training session in Humboldt County. He sees the trainings as a “really great experience” for volunteer fire departments, some of which have new trainees who have never worked a fire before.
“It's excellent training for them — just to get comfortable working with fire,” Emerson says.
The concept of a prescribed burn association is catching on. Quinn-Davidson and Stackhouse have presented the Humboldt County model to numerous counties around the state, and new associations are cropping up around California.
“We use our program to train people, to inspire people, to empower people,” Quinn-Davidson says.
The value of Humboldt County's Prescribed Burn Association goes beyond the training it provides. Quinn-Davidson and Stackhouse view the association as a “community cooperative,” bringing together groups that have traditionally been at odds. At any training session you may find volunteers from the ranching or timber industry, environmentalists or cannabis growers.
“Instead of being on opposite sides of an issue, people are gaining understanding for the other side,” Stackhouse says. “It has opened the door for real, honest communication between different groups that otherwise would not be happening. Having people work together who have been on different sides of the community really is amazing.”
Quinn-Davidson agrees. “We are building community and we are using fire as this positive, synergistic thing,” she concludes. “And I feel so positive about it.”
The CSAC Challenge Awards were created in the early 1990s to recognize county innovation and best practices. Humboldt County's Prescribed Burn Association is a recipient of a 2019 CSAC Challenge Award – one of only 18 Challenge Awards presented statewide out of 284 entries.
To view a video of this program on YouTube, click here.
- Author: David Liebler, Director of Public Affairs & Member Services, California State Association of Counties
On a crisp and clear morning late last year, around 20 volunteer firefighters, landowners and community members gathered on a plot of land outside of the small rural community of Kneeland in Humboldt County. They listened intently to detailed instructions on how to safely burn 20 acres of private property that gradually rises on a hill before them. The volunteers gathered to learn how to successfully undertake a prescribed burn. It was all part of the ongoing education and training being conducted by Humboldt County's Prescribed Burn Association – the first of its kind west of the Rockies.
Lenya Quinn-Davidson and Jeffery Stackhouse, who both work for the UC Cooperative Extension in Humboldt County, developed the program in 2017 and have seen it steadily grow ever since. The association is comprised of landowners, nonprofits, volunteer firefighters and other community members who work together to carry out prescribed burns on private land. Until the association was created, most landowners and community members had lacked access to prescribed burn information and training.
“Fire is a natural part of California's landscape. Prescribed fire is a way for us to bring fire back to the landscape as a natural process under controlled conditions. We can choose the weather, we can choose how it's going to burn,” says Quinn-Davidson. “Private landowners have largely been left out of the fire picture and we realize that is a big part of the problem.”
The goal of the prescribed burn on that October day was to eliminate an invasive type of tree that was overtaking the grassy hill and restore the land to a state where native oaks can thrive once again. The property owners are receiving the same training as the volunteer firefighters on hand. Beyond eliminating invasive species, the association is utilizing prescribed burns to reduce fuels to prevent future wildfires, as well as restore wildlife habitat. But most importantly, the training and education empowers landowners and others to reconnect with fire as a management tool.
Will Emerson is an assistant fire chief for the volunteer Bell Springs Fire Department in northern Mendocino County. He and his three colleagues made the 2.5-hour trip to participate in the prescribed burn training session in Humboldt County. He sees the trainings as a “really great experience” for volunteer fire departments, some of which have new trainees who have never worked a fire before.
“It's excellent training for them — just to get comfortable working with fire,” Emerson says.
The concept of a prescribed burn association is catching on. Quinn-Davidson and Stackhouse have presented the Humboldt County model to numerous counties around the state, and new associations are cropping up around California.
“We use our program to train people, to inspire people, to empower people,” Quinn-Davidson says.
The value of Humboldt County's Prescribed Burn Association goes beyond the training it provides. Quinn-Davidson and Stackhouse view the association as a “community cooperative,” bringing together groups that have traditionally been at odds. At any training session you may find volunteers from the ranching or timber industry, environmentalists or cannabis growers.
“Instead of being on opposite sides of an issue, people are gaining understanding for the other side,” Stackhouse says. “It has opened the door for real, honest communication between different groups that otherwise would not be happening. Having people work together who have been on different sides of the community really is amazing.”
Quinn-Davidson agrees. “We are building community and we are using fire as this positive, synergistic thing,” she concludes. “And I feel so positive about it.”
The CSAC Challenge Awards were created in the early 1990s to recognize county innovation and best practices. Humboldt County's Prescribed Burn Association is a recipient of a 2019 CSAC Challenge Award – one of only 18 Challenge Awards presented statewide out of 284 entries.
To view a video of this program on YouTube, click here.
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Northern California cooks are encouraged to enter their best quinoa recipes in a contest next month co-sponsored by the UC Cooperative Extension Master Food Preservers Program, reported Heather Shelton in the Eureka Times-Standard.
"Quinoa is such an interesting food and there is quite a bit grown here in Humboldt," said Jennifer Bell, a UC Master Food Preserver who is working with UC Cooperative Extension and the North Coast Co-op to offer the contest.
People consume quinoa like a grain, though it isn't a true grain. It is a complete protein and considered a superfood.
Quinoa "is higher in protein than many grains and low in fat, it is relatively inexpensive, it is versatile in dishes, it is tasty, with a crunchy texture and a nutty flavor and it is gluten free," Bell said.
In the spirit of local food month, the judges encourage participants to include as many local ingredients as possible in their recipes, especially locally grown quinoa. The winners will be selected based on the percent quinoa in the recipe, taste, appearance, use of local ingredients and creativity.
The contest has five categories: appetizer, breakfast, salad, burger/meatball and dessert. Participants may enter once in each category.
Recipes for the Great Quinoa Recipe Contest must be submitted online by Sept. 10. Enough food for sampling by five judges should be dropped off between 1 and 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 15., at the UC Cooperative Extension office, 5630 S. Broadway, Eureka. Winners in each category will receive a crown and a prize.
The public is welcome from 3 to 5 p.m. Sept. 15 to view a short film, watch a low-sugar jam demonstration using quinoa, taste quinoa and take part in a quinoa Q&A session.
- Author: Lenya Quinn-Davidson
Reposted from the Fire Adapted Community Learning Network blog
For many years, we at the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) have fielded questions from landowners about using fire as a tool. Ranchers and forestland owners in Humboldt County have voiced interest in using fire to improve range resources, enhance wildlife habitat, reduce fuels, and beat back the trees and shrubs that are quickly engulfing their prairies and woodlands, but we have struggled to provide them with good options.
In recent history, CAL FIRE led the majority of burns on private lands in California. In the 1980s, their Vegetation Management Program (VMP) was responsible for 30,000–65,000 acres of controlled burning every year. In recent decades, however, those numbers have consistently fallen short of 10,000 acres a year — a drop in the bucket given the habitat and fuels issues that we face in California. CAL FIRE is currently revamping and reinvesting in the VMP, which is great news, but it's clear that other pathways are needed for landowners to reclaim fire as the important tool that it is. Last year, UCCE started looking into prescribed fire models from other parts of the country. We know that other regions have impressive burn programs that blow California out of the water, and in most of those places, they've been successful because landowners are doing the burning themselves — something that's almost unheard of in California.
Over the last year, we worked with private landowners in Humboldt County to plan and implement burns. In June, we burned a 19-acre grass unit on a ranch in eastern Humboldt County, treating a patch of invasive medusahead. This Halloween, we burned 140 acres of coastal rangeland invaded by shrubs and trees. For both of these burns, we hired a qualified burn boss to write the burn plan and direct the burn, but we staffed the burns entirely with volunteers, including volunteer fire department members, landowners, and other interested community members. This model of burning — where the landowners take the lead — is truly an exciting and novel development in California, and I believe it is the critical ingredient to burning at a meaningful scale.