Bringing research and outreach to forest landowners.
The Central Sierra forestry program seeks to provide the latest research-based information from the University of California to residents, non-profits, and staff of local, state, and federal agencies.
Susie Kocher is the Forestry Advisor for the Central Sierra area. Susie is a Registered Professional Forester with a background in forestry, stream restoration, monitoring and sociology and has worked for Cooperative Extension for 24 years, in South Lake Tahoe since September 2006. On-going projects:
- Conducting forest stewardship workshops throughout California to help landowners develop plans and management their forests
- Increasing the capacity of private landowners to carry out prescribed fire in the Sierra
- Conducting reforestation workshops for landowners affected by wildfire and tree mortality
- Training Master Gardeners to answer questions on tree mortality from the public
- Coordinating input to the tree mortality data collection network
- Collaboration with the California Fire Science Consortium
- Maintenance of the University of California Forest Research and Outreach website
Past projects:
- 2010 - 2013 Collaborating with the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Living with Fire program to organize the Lake Tahoe Basin Wildfire Awareness Week and wildfire summit
- 2007 - 2015 Monitoring of the recovery of the Angora fire area in collaboration with the California Tahoe Conservancy
- 2008 - 2015 Coordinating public involvement in the Sierra Nevada Adaptive Management Project
- 2009 - Developing Voluntary Revegetation Guidelines for Private Parcels in the Angora burn area with a group of affected homeowners
- 2007 Conducting a Needs Assessment to identify extension and outreach needs
Forestry events/workshops:
- Check this page for a list of past forestry workshops/events.
- Check this page for upcoming events
Forestry publications:
- Check this page for forestry publications.
Ideas for collaboration or educational programming are welcome. Please contact:
Susie Kocher, University of California Cooperative Extension-Central Sierra, 1061 3rd Street, South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150, Phone: 530-542-2571, E-mail: sdkocher@ucanr.edu
Forest Research & Outreach Blog
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California’s wildfire season has lengthened, and its peak is now earlier in the year
Reposted from the UC Irvine News UCI environmental engineers analyzed a century's worth of the Golden State's blazes A brush fire in the summer of 2017 consumed large swaths of dried out vegetation on the hillsides of Ventura County, a place that...
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Getting Your Ranching Operation Ready for Fire Season
Reposted from the Ranching in the Sierra Foothills blog Late last month, we held a Prescribed Fire on Working Landscapes workshop near Colfax, culminating in a small broadcast burn on the Edwards Family Tree Farm. As we prepared to...
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How will climate change affect Southern California?
Reposted from the UC ANR news UC Thelma Hansen Fund to host climate webinar series, April 27-29 Members of the public are invited to attend a free webinar series discussing the effects of climate change on...
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Wildfire’s devastation can linger long after the smoke has cleared
Reposted from UC Berkeley news Communities impacted by California's recent megafires, such as the 2018 Woolsey fire, can face lasting social and economic hardships, including high unemployment and housing shortages. (Public domain photo) For...
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Urban coyotes get collared by UC ANR researcher and community partners
Reposted from UC ANR News Coyote conflicts with Californians are on the rise, with reports of urban coyotes biting people and killing pets. In July, two people were bitten by a coyote in separate attacks on a trail in Mission...
California Family Forest
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Forest Health
In 2015/16, many trees are dying throughout the central Sierra Nevada. This link connects to a webpage with information, publications and resources for dealing with tree mortality in the central Sierra.