Forest Stewardship comes to Contra Costa! Contra Costa Resource Conservation District's Ben Weise has been working with UC ANR's Forest Stewardship team to plan the next Forest Stewardship workshop series for landowners. We spoke with Weise about how the RCD has responded to changes in community needs over the years, and the role the organization plays in landscape-level planning for wildfire resilience.

For some time, fire had been on the periphery of Ben Weise’s work with Contra Costa ranchers. The projects he would help implement as the Contra Costa RCD’s Agriculture Program Director often had an element of reducing wildfire risk, but “it wasn’t necessarily our primary focus at the time,” he shared. But in 2020, Weise recognized a growing community need for wildfire preparedness. “The Contra Costa RCD needed to figure out where we belong in the fire world,” he recalled. “We recognized that there were a lot of people in this space already, but there was a role for us in here as well.” 

Weise and other regional organizations began drafting a Regional Priority Plan (RPP), a planning document that would identify opportunities to build wildfire resilience while prioritizing natural resource concerns. Five months later, the Bay Area would experience wildfire effects firsthand. On a September morning, smoke from nearby wildfires, including the North Complex, caused a haze of smoke in the region thick enough to cover the sun. 

This event was dubbed “Orange Sky Day” and served as confirmation to Weise that there was a pressing need for wildfire preparation on a larger scale. This is where the RPP comes into play- he noted that this type of planning document was key to identifying and addressing larger-scale issues. “A lot of natural resource concerns aren’t specific to one city in our area. There are regional issues across Alameda and Contra Costa County, which have very similar landscapes,” he stated.

Collaborating on this project was a special opportunity for Weise to engage with others in the region committed to the health and resilience of communities and natural lands. “Our operating procedure at that point was to think about the projects that will provide value and benefit to communities and protect natural resources. What forests or landscapes do we need to look at? What are the species we need to be thinking about in this context?” he said. 

The RPP was completed in 2022, and one of the outcomes for the RCD was starting a Wildfire Conservation and Resilience program. The program works to connect a varied clientele of landowners, homeowners, and community leaders to the wildfire prevention services they need. This could mean introducing a landowner to the local Air Quality district’s free chipping program, or helping a neighborhood implement defensible space with the Diablo Fire Safe Council. Weise shared that the ability to bring in new Wildfire Conservation Coordinator Zoë Fung furthered the RCD’s ability to “be on the ground, in the community, and listen to what people need.”

He also pointed to the variety of projects the RCD is directly involved in: helping a FireWise community limb trees, establishing a Vegetation Treatment Program in central  Contra Costa, and offering education in the form of a “Living with Wildfire” webinar series. Weise has also been a key voice on the planning team for UC ANR’s Forest Stewardship Contra Costa Workshop, which will help landowners across California learn strategies for promoting wildfire resiliency and forest health on their land. “I have yet to meet someone I can’t work with,” said Weise. “We are connected enough now to be able to point people to where they need to go.” 

It's been three years since the RPP was completed, and Weise sees the Contra Costa RCD occupying a familiar role in the new world of fire. “We find ourselves doing much of the same work we've done for the last 80 years,” Weise shared. “Our place is connecting people to resources and bringing people together. I like to think of the RCD as the glue.” 

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Registration is open for the Contra Costa Forest Stewardship Workshop (October 7-December 16)! The series begins October 7, with weekly meetings over Zoom and an in-person field day on Saturday, November 8. Learn about forest ecology, wildfire resilience strategies, financial assistance, and earn a free site visit with a CA Registered Professional Forester, Burn Boss, or Range Manager.

Registration is $60, with scholarships available by request. Contact Forest Stewardship Program Academic Coordinator Kim Ingram (kcingram@ucanr.edu) to request a scholarship. Register here.