Do you want to make a difference in a fire-impacted community? Do you have GIS skills and want to put them to use in project development and monitoring?

​CLERC and our partners at the Upper Lake Ranger District of the Mendocino National Forest have been successful in securing a large Forest Health Grant to conduct restoration activities in the fire-impacted areas of the Mendocino National Forest. 

​The scope of work for this portion of the project includes 500 acres of roadside hazard tree abatement in areas burned in wildfire. The goals of the project include improved ingress/egress, reduction of roadside fuel loading, and creation of fuel breaks to slow the spread of future wildfires.

​​Lakeport's Carnegie Library, built in 1918 is one of Lake County's many gems and it is now home to CLERC!

​Do you have a fire story to tell? We are looking for wildfire survivors who can help us learn about recovery.

​CLERC is assisting researchers at the University of Albany, the University of North Texas, and the US Forest Service to locate people who lost their home in Lake, Sonoma, or Butte Counties due to wildfire since 2015.

We are conducting a study about how people rebuild and recover after wildfire. If you live or lived in Butte, Lake, or Sonoma County and your home was damaged or destroyed by fire, your participation in this study could help improve recovery for people affected by future fires.

After many weeks of logistical maneuvering, the Fox Drive Fire Prevention Project is kicking off with a bang as tree felling begins near Fox and Hoberg Drives. This project, funded by a CalFire Fire Prevention Grant, addresses the ongoing tree die-off in the Cobb area. For those of us who live in Lake County, this unusual color change on our mountainsides from green to red has been catching our attention and stoking our unease since the summer of 2021. But what exactly is causing the die-off? And what should we do about it? 

In May the CAL FIRE Communications Team toured the recently completed Forest Health Grant Project at Harbin Hot Springs. CLERC’s Executive Director and Senior Program Manager were on hand to give the tour of the project that got it all started for CLERC’s Fire and Forestry Program.

​CAL FIRE released a short video highlighting the Harbin project and the benefits to the community.  Check it out:

​In August 2021, CAL FIRE announced that it was awarding $4.7M to CLERC and a group of partners to complete the Lake County Wildfire Resilience Project - Phase 1. The project was originally slated for award in mid-2020, but was delayed by the covid-19 pandemic. With this funding, CLERC, along with partners, will restore health and fire resilience to Lake County devastated by years of wildfires, prolonged drought, pest damage and death of conifers, and absence of natural fires leading to unprecedented levels of fuel. With local, state, federal, tribal, and private partners this project will use fuels reduction, prescribed fire, pest management, reforestation, and biomass utilization, to maximize carbon sequestration and minimize the loss of carbon from mega fires.  

​Lake County, California has had a tough time with wildfire in the last decade. Hit by the Valley Fire in 2015, the Mendocino Complex Fire in 2018, and many other fires, the county faces not only questions about how to rebuild, but also how to prepare for future wildfire. Like many places in California, Lake County strives to identify areas of risk before they are devastated by fire, and mitigate risk for those areas in whatever way they can. Community building plays an important role in this process, and the Lake County community has certainly come together in the wake of fire. But the question remains: once the community is together, where do you go next?