Mass Timber and Other Innovative Wood Products in California

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DEVELOPING YOUNG STEWARDS

PROMOTING HEALTHY AND SUSTAINABLE ECOSYSTEMS

ENRICHING and EMPOWERING RURAL COMMUNITIES

LEADING RESEARCH and IDEAS FOR LOCAL SOLUTIONS

OUR MISSION

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

FEATURED PROGRAMS

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Mass Timber Report

NEW! Read the Full Mass Timber Report Here A study of barriers and potential solutions to grow the state’s sustainable wood products sector

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Sierra Forest Entrepreneurs Program

Local forest businesses are critical infrastructure for the forest restoration economy and are in need to retooling and reinvestment to ensure they can meet...

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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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Featured Reports

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Mass Timber and Other Innovative Wood Products in California Report

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Fire, Forests & the Future of Rural Communities

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

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

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sierra.institute

Full-time and Seasonal positions Now Open! Field O

Full-time and Seasonal positions Now Open! Field Operations Coordinator ($55,000 to $60,000), Collaborative Forestry Specialist ($52,000 - $57,000), P-CREW Youth Corps Coordinator ($50,000 - $70,000), P-CREW Assistant Field Coordinator (Seasonal/$20.50 per hour), Wilderness Trail Crew - Crew Leader (Seasonal/ $20-$23/hr), Wilderness Trail Crew - Crew Members (Seasonal/ $17-$20/hr) Apply today: sierrainstitute.us

Now Hiring: P-CREW Youth Corps Coordinator Join t

Now Hiring: P-CREW Youth Corps Coordinator

Join today and help us run a unique and empowering youth corps program!

The P-CREW program is designed to introduce diverse crew members to a wide spectrum of natural resource work, as well as teach crews to live and work together outdoors. The program develops the next generation of natural resource stewards through work experience, field-based learning, personal growth, and professional engagement.

To learn more or apply please visit: https://sierrainstitute.us/about/jobs/

#youthcorps #outdooorjobs #corps #conservation #stewardship #DEIJ #youthdevelopment #nowhiring #lostSierra

Seeking a full time Field Operations Coordinator t

Seeking a full time Field Operations Coordinator to help oversee our diverse and growing forest restoration crews!

To learn more and apply visit: https://sierrainstitute.us/about/jobs/

#conservation #restoration #nowhiring #restorationcrews #fieldwork #forest #norCal #sierra

Instagram post 18073879774335554

Instagram post 18073879774335554

Last day of 2022! Start your New Year with an Imp

Last day of 2022!
Start your New Year with an Impact ~ Help us Restore Landscapes, Build Vibrant Communities, and Combat Climate Change!

If you haven't had a chance yet, please consider donating today:
https://secure.sierrainstitute.us/donation.jsp?campaign=60&

Water infrastructure is critically needed in Sierr

Water infrastructure is critically needed in Sierra Nevada Communities

Support Program work at Sierra Institute:

The Department of Water Resources Disadvantaged Community and Tribal Involvement (DACTI) Program engages disadvantaged, economically distressed, and underrepresented communities in Integrated Regional Water Management (IRWM) planning efforts. Sierra Institute is the program lead for the Sierra Nevada region, working with water management groups to increase water quality, drought resilience, and wildfire fighting capacity to benefit under-resourced and Tribal communities.

Project Spotlight: Water needs assessment in Sierra Foothill communities
In order to better target limited resources for water supply and water security, the Tuolumne- Stanislaus and Mokelumne-Amador-Calaveras integrated regional water management regions worked together to survey community members about water related concerns and needs. Community members were asked where they received their water, concerns about water supply, water safety, and water affordability. The two regions surveyed 574 community members and of those, 167 (32%) reported having been unable to pay for water on time at some point in the last year, 395 (75%) were concerned about water supply, and 156 (30%) had concerns about water safety. Respondents were also asked about any specific concerns they had regarding water quality in their local region. The regions will now utilize the list of needs to develop projects and grant applications specifically for projects that benefit disadvantaged community members.

Photo 1: Well water sampling kit used in the Southern Sierra.

Photo 2: Ate Visser, testing a well in the Southern Sierra for contaminants.

Photo 3: Crew pouring the cement for the new water tank pad in North Fork, CA.

Photo 4: Newly installed water tanks with weather protective wooden shelter.

Great job P-CREW! Make a donation today and suppo

Great job P-CREW!

Make a donation today and support our 2023 Program!:
https://secure.sierrainstitute.us/donation.jsp?campaign=60&

In 2022, we had 30 P-CREW members engage in meaningful conservation work. They built friendships, developed leadership skills, explored wild forests, gained confidence in themselves, learned about the Feather River Watershed, and worked hard!

Special thanks goes out to our crew leaders, support staff, partners, and sponsors! @California State Parks @Parks California @Lassen Volcanic National Park @Lassen Park Foundation @Lassen National Forest @Collins @National Forest Foundation @Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation @Wildlife Conservation Board @California Workforce Development Board @Feather River College

Sierra Institute’s P-CREW Youth Corps is an immersive, five-week, experiential work opportunity designed to offer employment on northern California’s public lands to youth from rural and urban areas around the state. The program strives to develop the next generation of natural resource stewards through work experience, field-based education, personal growth, and professional development.
#sierrainstitute #giving #youthstewardship #taylorsvilleca

Instagram post 17990921506639260

Instagram post 17990921506639260

Working to achieve forest resilience for wildlife

Working to achieve forest resilience for wildlife

Year-End Giving Campaign happening now:

Keep out! Don’t touch! That could summarize many of the approaches to conservation historically. By successfully keeping out fire, we’ve made the forests of the Sierra Nevada as much as six to seven times denser than 100 years ago, and these forests now consist of smaller trees, with the average tree size reduced by half! With hotter and drier summers, the risk to forests from wildfire, drought, and insects has increased.

Science-informed action is necessary to conserve important forest habitat, including areas used by California spotted owls. This fall, as part of the West Shore Community Wildfire Protection project, implementation of ecologically-based thinning got under way in owl habitat to improve resilience to fire, drought, and insects. This work follows the best available science, including recent research showing that active management is needed to preserve key habitat features such as large, tall trees – these are the same features most at-risk from drought or beetle outbreaks under current conditions (Steel, et. al, 2022). Removing small trees will reduce competition, increasing the availability of water and nutrients for remaining trees to grow healthy and tall!

Citation:
Mega-disturbances cause rapid decline of mature conifer forest habitat in California
Zachary L. Steel,Gavin M. Jones,Brandon M. Collins,Rebecca Green,Alexander Koltunov,Kathryn L. Purcell,Sarah C. Sawyer,Michèle R. Slaton,Scott L. Stephens,Peter Stine,Craig Thompson
First published: 20 October 2022 https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2763

Photo 1: Hand thinning in the foreground, with past fire effects in background from the 2012 Chips Fire.

Photo 2: Panoramic view of hand-thinning in progress

Here is a new one we are excited about! Thanks to

Here is a new one we are excited about!

Thanks to our wonderful partnership with @lassennps we are offering a seasonal Cultural Resource Technician position!

To learn more or apply today visit: https://sierrainstitute.us/about/jobs/

#nowhiring #fieldwork #norcal #LassenVolcanicNationalPark #exploreyourparks #fieldwork #archaeology #culturalresources #Sierra

Start your New Year off doing something great! Ap

Start your New Year off doing something great!
Apply to work at Sierra Institute today! https://sierrainstitute.us/about/jobs
2023 Seasonal Field positions and P-CREW Youth Stewardship positions are now online!

Taylorsville residents take the lead on wildfire r

Taylorsville residents take the lead on wildfire risk reduction!

Another snapshot of the great work being done at Sierra Institute!
Please consider giving today to support future projects and work: https://secure.sierrainstitute.us/donation.jsp?campaign=60&

Over a series of meetings in living rooms, on front porches, or in community social halls, friends and neighbors on the Taylorsville Firewise Committee worked with Sierra Institute staff to develop a plan for thinning forests on the edge of town that would provide a buffer in the event of a wildfire that threatened town. Staff are successfully leveraging their professional expertise in project development with the talents and connections of the all-volunteer Taylorsville Firewise Committee to develop a plan of action for approximately 250 acres with support from the Sierra Nevada Conservancy. We hope to have the necessary plans and environmental compliance completed and begin implementation in 2023 to improve the wildfire resilience of Taylorsville.

Photo 1: Landowners and members of the Taylorsville Firewise Committee meet with UCCE Plumas-Sierra Forester and Natural Resources Advisor, Ryan Tompkins, to discuss forest conditions.

Photo 2: The Taylorsville Firewise Committee hosts a field visit to a landowner’s property post-Dixie Fire.
#sierrainstitute #giving #taylorsvilleca