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PROMOTING HEALTHY AND SUSTAINABLE ECOSYSTEMS

ENRICHING and EMPOWERING RURAL COMMUNITIES

DEVELOPING YOUNG STEWARDS

LEADING RESEARCH and IDEAS FOR LOCAL SOLUTIONS

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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

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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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The stunning views at the Concow Pyrodiversity pro

The stunning views at the Concow Pyrodiversity project area. The Butte County RCD in partnership with CAL FIRE, Sierra Pacific Industries, Plumas National Forest, Butte County Fire Safe Council, and others are tackling explosive fuels regrowth around the community of Concow. The Sierra Institute has signed on to assist with the hydrology and soils analysis for the project located in the Flea Creek drainage. The area first burned in 2008 and then again in 2018 during the Camp Fire, demonstrating a 10-year fire return interval and putting the landscape at risk of conversion to very flammable brushlands. The project aims to create a prescribed burn regime that approaches traditional cultural fire return intervals and will break up brush regrowth to reduce future fire intensity and improve wildlife habitat.

A big thank you to @patagonia for donating a large

A big thank you to @patagonia for donating a large and very generous amount of clothing to our @pcrew.youth.corps Program. This includes down jackets, fleece pullovers, lots of polypropylene and wool base layers, hiking pants, and more!! Anyone that works or plays in the backcountry knows that the right gear is crucial to a successful expedition and can make or break the experience of camping and working outdoors. P-CREW strives to never let lack of resources or access to gear stand in the way of youth participating in our youth trail crews. With this generous donation from Patagonia, every crew member has equal access to this high-quality outdoor clothing during their summer sessions in the field, which will keep them warm, dry, safe, and comfortable while they sweat, sleep, work, and play in the Lassen National Forest and @lassennps Lassen Volcanic National Park!

*Pictured Sierra Institute staff modeling the donated Patagonia clothing.

Thanks to Scott McReynolds of the CA Department of

Thanks to Scott McReynolds of the CA Department of Water Resources for arranging a long-term loan of water quality monitoring equipment to the Lake Almanor Watershed Group (LAWG). The group conducts annual monitoring work on the lake and writes a health report every year. Scott assisted with monitoring from 1998-2006 and again from the fall of 2014 until last week, and Lake Almanor Watershed Group and the Sierra Institute appreciate his continued support as the lake monitoring shifts to being volunteer-based. Click the link in our bio to read the LAWG's 2020 Water Quality Report!

Earth Day Reflections by Nina Martynn @neenadances

Earth Day Reflections by Nina Martynn @neenadances

When I think about Earth Day I think about the feeling I get when my bare feet dig their toes into warm sand or cold water, when I walk outside on a bluebird day, and the sun hits my face after a morning in the office and I feel my whole body exhale.

Earth Day reflections bring me back to a memory of an early morning as a kid, that I snuck out of the house before dawn to go sit by a creek, just so I could listen to the way water flows over rocks, when the world is still asleep.

Its the way the trees and flowers greet me as I walk by, on a beautiful trail that someone built, giving me access to these divine spaces; its the joy that I feel paddling down a wild and scenic river, its the way the wind envelopes my body when I ride a bike or the way snow flakes gingerly land on my face like butterfly kisses.

It’s also the roaring storms that bring chills to our bones and the fires that run through forests, rattling the communities they interface. But it’s also the life that is determined to thrive in burn scars. It’s the beauty, and power, and resiliency of the beautiful land we are lucky enough to get to inhabit.

Earth Day Reflections from Spencer Lachman @spence

Earth Day Reflections from Spencer Lachman @spencerlachman (To read his entire post check out the Sierra Institute blog on our website - linked in our bio!)

To me, Earth Day is an opportunity to reflect on our individual relationships with local and global systems. It means considering the broader implications of our actions on our global community and the intentionality of the decisions we make as consumers, humans, and Americans. To understand these identities more clearly, it can be helpful to reflect on why our relationship to a process, practice, or place is meaningful and what context guides the way we interact with, or project, those identities.

One place which always grounds me is Montana’s Blackfoot Valley. Like Plumas County, this corner of the Treasure State is rugged and untamable. The southern flank of the Bob Marshall and Scapegoat wilderness areas stand guard to a place that harbors a brutal mysticism. In those remote glacial valleys, one may render themself to an intentionally non-human world and find themselves bound to the place by the spirit of all things - quelling the sense of worldly and ecological homelessness which underlies our domesticated, westernized psyches.

On the meaning of Earth Day, @no_abramson Noah Abr

On the meaning of Earth Day, @no_abramson Noah Abramson, the Sierra Institute Water Resources Project Coordinator, reflected - "Every day is Earth Day for me and my work at Sierra Institute. I'm constantly thinking about how the landscape responds to forces large and small. Whether it's determining why a road is negatively affecting a stream or how an active volcano can help save Salmon in the Sacramento River, everything is interconnected. As shown in the picture- Mill Creek winds its way down from Brokeoff Mountain into Morgan Meadows. The high elevations and cool water temperatures in upper Mill Creek help Sacramento River Salmon and Steelhead withstand the effects of climate change.

Today Moorea Stout, Director of Development,shares

Today Moorea Stout, Director of Development,shares her reflections on Earth Day. The stunning photo of Applegate's Indian Paintbrush was shot locally by the incredible photographer Austin Schuver @austinschuver who is also a past Sierra Institute employee.

"Earth Day – it’s complicated. Celebration for all the wonder and beauty in nature and the complexity of the web of life. Yet mourning for all the damage we’ve done as a species. But the chance to make things better is why I get up in the morning. It’s why I left Southern California and moved to a remote mountain town (population 182) in the Sierras. Why I closed a successful design business to work for a small non-profit. I am so proud to be on this team. To be one small cog in the change that my amazing colleagues at Sierra Institute are working so hard to achieve."

Happy Earth Week! This stunning photo of Indian Va

Happy Earth Week! This stunning photo of Indian Valley at dusk was taken by former Sierra Institute employee @austinschuver🌲🌎🌸

In honor of our Mother Earth we will be sharing staff reflections on the meaning of Earth Day to celebrate the beauty and resilience of this precious place we get to call home.

Responding to the question -“what does Earth Day mean to you?” Virginia Pritchard @spunkshire shared: “Earth Day for me is a day to reflect on what this wonderful planet provides for us. It is our home, and the basis of everything we do as humans and society. It is also an important day to give back to the Earth. Sometimes this is in the form of community service (organized or self-initiated), and sometimes it means donating to an organization that protects or restores environments on this planet. This year, climate has been on my mind more than ever with the after effects of a devastating wildfire season and warm April temperatures. So to celebrate I am going to find an organization who is helping communities get ready for fire season and take some time to enjoy our local water sources and the life they provide.”

Our Purple Leaf Plum tree is in full bloom here at

Our Purple Leaf Plum tree is in full bloom here at Sierra Institute! Spring is always a special time here in the Lost Sierra as flowers bloom, the sun shines, and songbirds chirp their spring greetings, it's a lovely time to be outside. Don't forget to stop and smell the flowers this weekend!

We are still hiring for our Collaborative Forestry

We are still hiring for our Collaborative Forestry Field Crew! This crew will be working across the Lassen National Forest to implement timber marking which will direct restoration thinning around rural communities and meadow complexes in the headwaters of the North Fork Feather River. We are hiring one crew leader, multiple crew members, and one crew member apprentice - compensation varies depending on crew position. The position is open until filled, interviews are taking place on a rolling basis. The season starts mid-June and goes through October. Find out more on our website ( linked in our bio).

Sierra Institute is currently involved with the Si

Sierra Institute is currently involved with the Sierra to Cascade Plant Propagation Initiative (SCPPI, pronounced “skippy”) which is a collaborative endeavor that strives to increase native plant materials capacity in the Northern Sierra Nevada and Southern Cascade bioregions in northern California.

Phase one of developing native plant propagation capacity in Indian Valley is to establish a small greenhouse operation capable of producing 1,500 containers of pine-mat manzanita for restoration projects at Lassen Volcanic National Park within a two-year period and to engage community members, especially youth, along the way.

Kevin Price an AmeriCorps Volunteer currently working at Sierra Institute is leading the efforts with this project. Over the past 7 months of his service, he has managed to construct a small DIY greenhouse structure with the assistance of Sierra Institute staff and the guidance of our main partner, Steve Buckley, a PhD Botanist with Lassen Volcanic National Park. Steve also provided the project with manzanita plant material from the National Park back in November of 2020 which was processed and transferred into the small nursery.

The cuttings were monitored and watered occasionally until the spring in hopes that they would establish roots. However, currently few cuttings have established roots and while this is unfortunate from certain stand points it has been incredibly informative for the project moving forward. Once the starts do successfully root, the future goal of the project will be to engage youth from Greenville High School as well as other schools and organizations in the area, such as 4-H, in the transplant process.

Sierra Institute is hiring an Assistant Coordinato

Sierra Institute is hiring an Assistant Coordinator for the Plumas Conservation, Restoration, & Education in Watersheds (P-CREW) Program. The position will run from May - September. The Assistant Coordinator will be instrumental in assisting in the coordination, logistics, and administration of our four summer youth crews alongside the Program Coordinator. Preference will be given to P-CREW Alumni or to those with similar youth corps experience. Full job details can be found on the P-CREW and Sierra Institute websites at pcrew.sierrainstitute.us/apply/ or www.sierrainstitute.us/jobs. You can apply by sending your resume, cover letter, and contacts for 3 references to jobs@sierrainstitute.us