Exciting News! The National Park Service awarded Sierra Institute the Wes Henry Excellence in Wilderness Stewardship Award, in the “External Partner” category, for our Wilderness Fuels Module Crew's work in Lassen Volcanic National Park. Check out the Video Here.

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

READ THE REPORT

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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

READ THE STORY MAP

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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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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Sierra to California All-Lands Enhancement (SCALE)

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

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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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Plumas Conservation, Restoration, & Education in Watersheds (P-CREW)

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sierra.institute

There are few topics more crucial to a healthy Sie

There are few topics more crucial to a healthy Sierra than wildfire - but what will it really take to address a problem this big and this urgent?
Please join us for a very special online film screening of Not IF But When: Wildfire Solutions
The intensity and size of this year's wildfire season leaves no room for doubt: we need real solutions and we need them now. Three of the last four largest fires took place in 2020.
Watch this engaging documentary, then join us for a panel discussion with local experts including:

Don Hankins, Professor of Pyrogeography at Chico State

Jonathan Kusel, Ph.D, Executive Director at Sierra Institute (former core team member of the Congressionally funded Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project)

Cathy LeBlanc, Executive Director at Camptonville Community Partnership

Radu Sava, Filmmaker

Event details:
Watching the Film: you will receive on email with a link to watch the film on Tuesday, Sept. 29 at 5:00 PM. You will be able to watch the film anytime between then and 5 PM on October 1st.
Joining the panel discussion: as soon as you register, you will receive a link to the Zoom meeting. The meeting will start at 06:30 PM on October 1st. Panelists will give brief presentations and the rest of the time will be dedicated to answering your questions. You will be able to submit the questions via the Zoom chat box. If you are calling in, please submit your questions ahead of time to: events@sierrainstitute.us.

To register, visit the events page at SierraInstitute.us

#wildfire
#sierranevada
#foresthealth

We are excited to have been selected by The Nation

We are excited to have been selected by The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to perform work in Lassen National Forest. We will be developing restoration plans for streams in watersheds critical for salmon and steelhead.

Click on the link below for more information!

https://www.nfwf.org/media-center/press-releases/nfwf-announces-16-million-grants-improve-watersheds-and-resilience-throughout-california

September 10th at 06:30 PM A vibrant community is

September 10th at 06:30 PM

A vibrant community is based in a healthy ecosystem – but just as important is a working economy. When we were planning this event—long before pandemic made in-person gathering impossible—we wanted to foster a conversation with community members about the way our environment influences our economy and vice-versa – and how both affect quality of life.
This next State of the Lake is devoted to exploring the intersection of environment, economy, and community. Our speakers will be talking about a variety of local projects and efforts, among them:

Recreation and tourism

Outdoor access

Workforce development

Community resiliency

Forest restoration

Wildifire mitigation

Our distinguished presenters:

Susan Bryner, Lake Almanor Area Chamber of Commerce

Carlos Espana, Almanor Recreation and Parks Department

Jonathan Kusel, Sierra Institute and South Lassen Watersheds Group

Katherine Sansone, Lake Amanor Community Foundation

Vanessa Vasquez, Feather River Land Trust

Why Community Vitality?
If you’ve been following the State of the Lake series so far this summer, this might seem like tangent. After all, we’ve talked about forest management, land conservation, meadow restoration, water quality and fishing conditions – all topics that relate to the ecology of the Almanor basin.

So how does “Community Vitality” fit into the environment? The short answer is quality of life. When you ask most residents of the area why they live here, near the top of the list is access to wild places and outdoor recreation. The same goes for visitors – they don’t travel to Plumas or Lassen County on the weekend to hang out at multiplexes or air-conditioned malls. They come for the hiking, biking, fishing, boating and so on.

Today we bring you the final episode of our first

Today we bring you the final episode of our first season of the LostSierraStories Podcast! https://rss.com/podcasts/lostsierrastories/68936/

In this episode, we hear from Bee an incoming freshman this Fall of the 2020 school year and Conrad a recent 12th-grade Quincy High School graduate. Both students share their perspectives of what it was like to try to live and learn amidst a global pandemic.

Sierra Institute respects the profound challenges teachers and students face as they navigate the start of this new school year during the pandemic and now forest fires. Our thoughts go out to all of you. To our fire fighters and first responders; thank you for protecting our communities.

The 7th episode (and the second to the last episod

The 7th episode (and the second to the last episode of the first season) of the LostSierraStories Podcast is live! https://rss.com/podcasts/lostsierrastories/68140/

Sara Murphy is a 7th grade English Teacher and 9th-10th Pre-Advanced Placement English Teacher at Portola Junior-Senior High School. Sara discusses the difficulties of separating and balancing work and home life while working remotely and the stress of worrying about her students while not being able to see them in person.

We know that school is set to start at the end of August and we just want to extend our gratitude for educators everywhere as they navigate this difficult time.

Find LostSierraStories Podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!

Exciting news! We are proud to announce that the N

Exciting news! We are proud to announce that the National Park Service will award Sierra Institute the Wes Henry Excellence in Wilderness Stewardship Award in the External Partner category.

Because wilderness regulations prohibit the use of mechanized equipment, Lassen Volcanic National Park and Sierra Institute conceived a unique and innovative program to field a crew using crosscut saws to reduce wildfire fuels and promote ecosystem resilience on Flatiron Ridge, with support from the Sierra Nevada Conservancy. The eight-person crew treated 6.7 miles of the Flatiron Unit perimeter to prepare the area for low-to-moderate severity prescribed fire to restore the wilderness headwaters of the North Fork of the Feather River.

You can tune in to the awards ceremony this Tuesday, August 25th at 1pm: nationalparks.org/npsawards

Episode Number 6 of the LostSierraStories Podcast

Episode Number 6 of the LostSierraStories Podcast is live! You can find us on Apple Podcasts, iTunes or Spotify! Or Follow the Link to the episode online: https://rss.com/podcasts/lostsierrastories/66366/

In this episode, we hear from Lisa Balbiani a 7th-12th grade English and elective teacher at Greenville Junior/Senior High School. Lisa has been teaching at GHS since 1996. She brings optimism to this episode as she shares her opinion on the potential for COVID-19 to turn public education on its head in positive ways. She also shares about her experience with a family member contradicting the virus.

#ruralcommunities#mountainliving#plumascounty#ruralvoices#communitydevelopment#education#educationinthetimeofcovid#covidstories#teachersofinstagram

Summer storms bringing beautiful views around Tayl

Summer storms bringing beautiful views around Taylorsville recently. Can you spot the doggo in this picture? #sierrainstitute #doublerainbow #officedog

Episode Number 5 of the LostSierraStories Podcast

Episode Number 5 of the LostSierraStories Podcast is live! Check it out on our website, iTunes, or Spotify.

Danielle Frid is a junior high and high school Art Teacher, as well as a PE instructor at Quincy Junior-Senior High School. Danielle gets real about the balancing act of working from home with two little kids and trying to make sure she is being mindful of students' stress levels all the while trying to provide meaningful art lessons and creative outlets.

Save the Date! More details to follow

Save the Date! More details to follow

We are proud of our recent biomass report, Paying

We are proud of our recent biomass report, Paying for Forest Health: Improving the Economics of Forest Restoration and Biomass Power in California. But our enthusiasm for biomass utilization doesn’t stop there! Our Executive Director Jonathan Kusel recently spoke at a virtual event about the importance of utilizing the by-products of forest restoration to facilitate more resilient forests and rural communities, and we continue to advocate for and support community-scale wood utilization at local and state levels. Read the report on our website!

A big welcome to our brand new young-adult crew! O