Read Our Latest Blog Post on the Restoration of Montane Meadows and Forests!

PROMOTING HEALTHY AND SUSTAINABLE ECOSYSTEMS

ENRICHING and EMPOWERING RURAL COMMUNITIES

DEVELOPING YOUNG STEWARDS

LEADING RESEARCH and IDEAS FOR LOCAL SOLUTIONS

READ OUR ANTIRACISM STATEMENT

Anti-racism Statement

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Paying For Forest Health: Improving the Economics of Forest Restoration and Biomass Power in California

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Learn more about the process and findings of our Watershed Program Study

READ THE STORY MAP

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Fire, Forests & the Future of Rural Communities

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OUR MISSION

Promoting healthy and sustainable forests and watersheds by investing in the well being of rural communities and strengthening their participation in natural resource decision making and programs.

FEATURED PROGRAMS

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Maidu Forest Parcel Forest Resiliency Project

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Sierra to California All-Lands Enhancement (SCALE)

Collaborative groups working on landscape-scale forest restoration and community improvement across California

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WEST SHORE COMMUNITY WILDFIRE PROTECTION PROJECT

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Community Build

Sierra Institute will help communities manage local forests and create forest-related businesses throughout the Sierra.

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Indian Valley Wood Products Campus

Addressing both poor forest health and socioeconomic conditions through wood products business development.

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Socioeconomic Monitoring

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Did you know that the person responsible for disco

Did you know that the person responsible for discovering the importance of crop rotation to maintain nitrogen levels and soil health was born a slave? In 1864 George Washington Carver was born on a Missouri Plantation, owned by Moses and Susan Carver. Though slavery was outlawed the next year, the Carvers took George and his brother James in as orphans when their mother and sister were kidnapped by slave raiders when George was just an infant. Despite George’s ill health as a child and tragic early life, he had an innate curiosity and aptitude for plants, art, music, and the natural world. At only 11 years old George left the Carver’s farm to seek a proper formal education. Due to Jim Crow laws at the time George had to travel long distances in search of a decent primary education. He made black history when he became the first African American to earn a Bachelor of Science degree from Iowa State University. He went on to get a graduate degree in Agricultural Sciences and an offer to work with Booker T. Washington at Tuskegee University. At Tuskegee University, George started an agricultural school and continued his agricultural research. His goal was to empower and train poor black farmers with the best agricultural practices, as a means of financial freedom. Carver discovered that years of growing cotton had depleted the soil of nutrients and was resulting in low yields. He taught farmers that by growing nitrogen-fixing plants like peanuts, soybeans, and sweet potatoes, in between seasons growing cotton, the soil could be restored and cotton yields could be increased. While studying nitrogen-fixing plants he also created hundreds of edible, medicinal, and industrial products that could be made out of peanuts, soybeans, and sweet potatoes, such as peanut oil, peanut flour, and even medicines and soaps. (Though he did not in fact create peanut butter.) This garnered him the legacy as the “peanut man” but George Washington Carver was much more than that. He was a legendary scientist, activist, and educator and a frontier in agricultural science, who despite all obstacles paved the way for future black agricultural scientists and educators in America.

Urgent! Help Indian Valley forests. The Sierra

Urgent! Help Indian Valley forests.

The Sierra Institute is currently conducting outreach within the greater Indian Valley community to identify areas residents want prioritized for hazardous fuels reduction and forest health management. Join your neighbors and take the survey linked in our bio! It’s only open through this Sunday (2/21) so submit your response as soon as you can!

The results of this survey will be shared with local land managers and community members to inform planning efforts, but no identifying information will be retained with your answers.

Thank you for helping us keep our communities and forests healthy and resilient!

Sierra Institute is hiring for multiple temporary

Sierra Institute is hiring for multiple temporary summer crew positions and one permanent program coordinator position! Find out more by checking out www.sierrainstiute.us/jobs (linked in bio). You can apply by sending your resume, cover letter, and references to jobs@sierrainstitute.us. Call (530) 284-1022 with any questions!

Congratulations to Steve Buckley, an ecologist for

Congratulations to Steve Buckley, an ecologist for the @lassennps Lassen Volcanic National Park (LVNP), who is Sierra Institute’s 2020 Partner of the Year.

In addition to his many park responsibilities, Steve is a highly valued and active member of the South Lassen Watersheds Group and Burney Hat Creek Community Forest and Watershed Group, where he provides critical ecological knowledge and thinking that helps guide the work of both groups.

Additionally, Steve’s efforts to develop innovative solutions that address stressors impacting forests and watersheds were recently recognized by two Sierra Nevada Conservancy awards focused on completing critical wildfire fuels management work in wilderness areas of Upper Feather River Watershed. These projects employ a Wilderness Fuels Module Crew that uses only non-mechanized equipment. The crew is preparing 4,000-acres for prescribed burning to restore historic forest conditions and fire patterns. Testimony to the importance of the work and Steve’s leadership, the Wilderness Fuels Module Crew was the recipient of the prestigious National Park Service Director’s 2019 Wes Henry Excellence in Wilderness Stewardship Award.

To read the full press release on Steve's outstanding partnership and work with Sierra Institute click the link in our bio!

Our share this week for Black History Month is the

Our share this week for Black History Month is the inspiring Rue Mapp, the founder, and CEO of Outdoor Afro, an Oakland-based, conservation-minded nonprofit that aims to reconnect the Black community with nature and to empower Black people to find leadership roles within it.

Outdoor Afro is working to expand the definition of both the outdoors and who belongs there, as well as, build Black community in wilderness spaces. According to their website, the organization has trained more than 80 leaders in 30 states to guide outdoor experiences that bring Black individuals together through hiking, camping, fishing, and birding. Outdoor Afro has gained such notoriety for its expertise in this field that even Oprah joined in, hiking through Oakland's iconic redwoods with the organization.

In one interview Mapp did for the Magazine 7x7 she shared that, these outdoor adventures are, in part, a form of restorative justice. Especially the healing hikes that Mapp began leading in the Bay Area following the killing of Michael Brown by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014. "We turned to those redwoods and did what African Americans knew we could always do, and that was to lay down our burdens by the riverside," she explained. "The trees do not know that you are Black, the birds don't know how much money is in your account, and the flowers are going to bloom no matter what your gender,” she shared.

Rue Mapp currently serves on the boards of the Outdoor Industry Association and The Wilderness Society, helping to shape conservation initiatives. She has been named a National Geographic fellow, invited to the Obama White House, and has been listed twice on The Root 100, a list of the most influential African Americans in the country. Last year she won the environment category of the prestigious Heinz Award.

Photos: Courtesy of Outdoor Afro

The Sierra Institute's Sierra to California All La

The Sierra Institute's Sierra to California All Lands Enhancement (SCALE) meeting will be held virtually on Thursday, February 25th, 2021 from 12:30-4:30 pm.

Our bi-annual SCALE meetings are an opportunity to bring together collaborative groups working on landscape-scale restoration projects across the West, in order to share best practices, hear stories of success, and learn about challenges. This meeting will focus on the impacts of the 2020 wildfire season, as well as how to prioritize restoration needs and strategically address tribal involvement in the recovery process.

Confirmed speakers include Randy Moore, Regional Forester with the USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region, and Patrick Wright, Manager of the Governor's Forest Management Task Force.

Sign up for the meeting by clicking on the link in our bio!
Check Out More about SCALE meetings at: https://scale.sierrainstitute.us/

Check out the latest findings from @plumasaudubon

Check out the latest findings from @plumasaudubon on the 2019 and 2020 grebe breeding seasons at Lake Almanor.

According to their findings - "Water management decisions caused low reproductive success for these species in 2002, 2003, 2010, 2016, and 2018. In 2019 and 2020, rapid change in reservoir elevation contributed to the complete abandonment of large breeding colonies, resulting in low reproductive success for those years and creating long-term impacts for local and statewide grebe populations."

Plumas Audubon's full press release is linked in our bio.

10 years of grebe reporting can be found on @plumasaudubon’s website at http://www.plumasaudubon.org/monitoring-results.html

• Photo Credit: @capturing.a.feeling Liz Ramsey

In honor of Black History Month, we will be sharin

In honor of Black History Month, we will be sharing information on black leaders and black led organizations working in conservation, environmental justice, and outdoor education and adventure.

Today we want to share about Dr. Robert Bullard. Widely acknowledged as "the father of environmental justice", Bullard has worked in the field since 1978. He is an award-winning author of eighteen books that address sustainable development, environmental racism, urban land use, community reinvestment, climate justice, community resilience, and more. He is currently a Distinguished Professor of Urban Planning and Environmental Policy at Texas Southern University. Prior to coming to TSU he was founding Director of the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University.

Of Environmental Justice Bullard says - "Environmental justice embraces the principle that all people and communities have a right to equal protection and equal enforcement of environmental laws and regulations." Yet, more than half of the 9 million people living within two miles of the nation's hazardous waste facilities are minorities, according to "Toxic Wastes and Race at Twenty, 1987-2007: Grassroots Struggles to Dismantle Environmental Racism," a recent report that Bullard co-wrote.

"America is segregated and so is pollution...too many people and communities have the “wrong complexion for protection.” Reducing environmental, health, economic and racial disparities is a major priority of the Environmental Justice Movement."

Take this Survey ( linked in bio) https://arcg.is/

Take this Survey ( linked in bio) https://arcg.is/0PTfSv to help Sierra Institute restore and protect Indian Valley forests!

The survey is open until Friday, February 12th.

We are currently conducting outreach among the greater Indian Valley community to identify areas residents would like to see treated to reduce fire risk and improve forest health. The areas in this survey are not intended to represent detailed project boundaries, but general areas where you are interested in seeing fuels reduction work happen.

The results of this survey will be shared with local land managers and community members to inform planning efforts, but no identifying information will be retained with your answers.

If you have questions about this survey or the work it will inform please email Dov Weinman, Watershed Coordinator at dweinman@sierrainstitute.us

Thank you for helping us keep our communities safe and forests healthy.

Snow /snō/ noun 1. atmospheric water vapor frozen

Snow
/snō/
noun
1. atmospheric water vapor frozen into ice crystals and falling in light white flakes or lying on the ground as a white layer.
Used in a sentence:
"Sierra Institute dogs love the snow as much as we do!"

The Lake Almanor Watershed Group is excited to ann

The Lake Almanor Watershed Group is excited to announce the completion of its 2020 Lake Almanor Management Plan! (PDF linked in bio)

Though 2020 was a year of virtual meetings and remote collaboration, the Lake Almanor Watershed Group (LAWG) continued the pursuit of its mission to maintain and improve the health of the Lake Almanor watershed. Over the last decade, LAWG's work has been guided by the Watershed Management Plan - developed in 2009 when the group worked as the Almanor Basin Watershed Advisory Committee. With coordination from the Sierra Institute, LAWG members reviewed and revised the 2009 document and have now finalized the 2020 Lake Almanor Management Plan. Informed by the past but always looking ahead, LAWG members are as committed as ever to landscape conservation and restoration, improving water quality and fisheries, and supporting community vitality.

Read the full plan and learn more about LAWG on our website at https://sierrainstitute.us/program/lake-almanor-watershed-group/

Happy Inauguration Day and Wildfire Wednesday! To

Happy Inauguration Day and Wildfire Wednesday!

Today we bring you the Crosscut Saw. Cross-cut-what you say? The Crosscut Saw is a traditional tool used in felling trees. Particularly useful when working in non-mechanized wilderness settings where motorized equipment is not allowed.

Over the past several years Sierra Institute has partnered with the Lassen Volcanic National Park (LAVO) to carry out a landscape-scale project focused on restoring low to moderate severity fire regimes to the wilderness headwaters of the North Fork of the Feather River. Specifically, a Wilderness Fuels Module (WFM) Crew has been employed to carry out fuels modification activities using only non-mechanized equipment (such as crosscut saws!) to prepare over 4,000-acres for future prescribed burns in order to restore historic forest conditions and increase resiliency against future catastrophic wildfire events.

The WFM crew will be working again over the 2021 season so stay tuned for more exciting stories on the use of crosscut saws in wilderness stewardship!

Funding for this project has been provided by the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, an agency of the State of California, under the California Drought, Water, Parks, Climate, Coastal Protection, and Outdoor Access For All Act of 2018 (Proposition 68)”