We began this week with the first snowfall of the season gently blanketing the mountainside beyond Taylorsville. This first glimpse of winter symbolizes the march of time in what has felt like an endlessly dry summer—one where our community was upended for weeks on end, concluding for far too many with tragedy and loss, in […]
Moorea Stout
Economic Development and Workforce Solutions – Sierra Forest Entrepreneurs
By Addie Wright and Lauren Redmore For rural forested areas across Northern California, economic development initiatives can sometimes be at odds with the environmental and social needs of local communities. As an organization committed to advancing both community and environment, the Sierra Institute has been involved in socio-economic monitoring of many communities over the years. […]
SCALE and The Evolving Impacts of Wildfire
In the Winter of 2020, the Sierra Institute conducted a series of interviews in preparation for our SCALE meeting, in which we aimed to gain perspective from our stakeholders regarding their experience in the 2020 wildfire season. The impacts discussed in these conversations were highly-varied and nuanced, ranging from practical discussions of hindered collaborative and […]
Sierra Institute and the Maidu Summit Consortium partner on landscape treatments on the West Shore of Lake Almanor.
By Spencer Lachman, Collaborative Forestry Management Apprentice On a recent, brisk October morning, members of the Maidu Summit Consortium, the Sierra Institute, and the US Forest Service gathered just west of Lake Almanor on property recently returned to the Mountain Maidu community. After socially distant introductions, the group gathered around a large sugar pine and […]
Sierra Institute Chosen for Rural Community Investment
Wood utilization in the Sierra Nevada got a big boost when the Sierra Nevada Conservancy awarded $400,000 to Sierra Institute for enhancing local business. The funding will help the Taylorsville-based organization increase use of low-value, small diameter wood, creating both healthier forests and better jobs. At least 10 redeveloped industrial sites will be incorporated in […]
Watershed Program Study officially released by the California Department of Conservation
The final report can be found here. Watershed coordinators are key to watershed health. In fact, they have generated seven times the funds state agencies have invested in them. Those are among the findings of an in-depth report two years in the making by Sierra Institute for Community and Environment. “Wading through the Watershed Program” […]