About Us | UCCE Central Sierra Forestry

Managing Central Sierra Forests

Forests and woodlands in the Central Sierra Nevada are beautiful, extensive, diverse and owned by both public and private landowners. These ecosystems are adapted to frequent, low severity fires that have been suppressed for over 100 years. As a result, many forests are overcrowded, unhealthy and stressed. As the climate warms, overcrowded forests are increasingly at risk from drought, wildfire and insect-caused mortality.

More active management is needed to reduce forest density and to help forests recover after wildfire. The cost and regulatory environment in which family forest owners must conduct their management is very challenging. The goal of the Central Sierra forestry program is to empower landowners to overcome these challenges. The program consists of:

Conducting forest stewardship workshops to help landowners develop their own California Cooperative Forest Management Plans to enable them to apply for state and federal cost share programs.
Encouraging the use of prescribed fire in the Central Sierra as a cost effective tool through outreach and educational workshops and materials.
Assisting landowners who have experienced in a wildfire to understand how to move forward with recovery and reforestation.
Increasing access to management information and resources through blogs, publications and websites.

Contact Information

Susie Kocher, Forestry/Natural Resources Advisor
Specialty: Forestry, fire and water quality, facilitation, public participation
Address:
1100 Lyons Ave, Room D-3
South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150
Phone: (530) 542-2571
Email: sdkocher@ucanr.edu

Susie Kocher, Angora Fire Recovery Site
Copyright © 2014 The Regents of the University of California. All Rights Reserved.

Susie's Publications

June 2024

Wilkin et al 2024 Findings from private lands prescribed fire workshops in the Sierra Nevada

May 2023

Restaino et al 2020 Wildfire Home Retrofit Guide Spanish

May 2022

Kocher and Wade 2022 Effects of Post-Fire Timber Harvest and Mastication on Shrub Regrowth in the SN brief

January 2021

Forestry Inventory Video Series: Comprehensive video series demonstrating how to perform basic forest inventory. Reviews tree measurement tools and items needed for evaluating your forest. Includes overview of what inventory is, why it is important, and how to set up your own plots and gather meaningful data. This series is intended for anyone interested in furthering their knowledge relating to basic forest inventory tools and methods.

October 2020

Koundinya et al. 2020 Disasters Happen - Identifying Disaster Management Needs ofCooperative Extension System Personnel

November 2020

Restaino et al 2020 Wildfire Home Retrofit Guide

August 2020

McMahon et al Mass Tree Mortality Fuels and Fire - A Guide for Sierra Nevada Forest Landowners

October 2019

Waks et al 2019 Landowner Perspectives on Reforestation after Wildfire

April 2019

The California Tree Mortality Data Collection Network - Enhanced communication and collaboration among scientists and stakeholders

December 2017

Linking knowledge to action: the role of boundary spanners in translating ecology