Fire & Forestry
PROGRAM
In recent years, California has experienced an increase in large, catastrophic wildfires resulting in the destruction of millions of acres of forest and tens of thousands of homes. Lake County has been particularly impacted by this phenomenon. Since 2015, nearly three quarters of the land in Lake County has been burned by wildfire.
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The Clear Lake Environmental Research Center (CLERC) is coordinating projects throughout Lake County to help combat the impacts of wildfire, promote positive regeneration of burned areas, and preserve the forest and woodlands that have not been destroyed by fire. Along with partners, CLERC is working towards creating a more fire resilient landscape.
Fire Prevention GrantIn March 2020, CLERC was awarded a $3M grant from CAL FIRE through the Fire Prevention Grant Program for the Lake County Hazardous Fuel Reduction Project Phase 1.
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Network of PartnersCLERC is building a network of landowners, technical experts, and resource management professionals to facilitate and help achieve our community's fire resiliency goals. The network includes both individuals and agencies involved in land management and fire resiliency in Lake County. Interested in joining the network? Please contact us!
Community-Wide Funding ApplicationsCLERC is preparing a series of community-wide grant funding applications for a variety of fire resiliency projects including fuel reduction, reforestation, prescribed fire, planning, workforce development, and community involvement. The intent of these community-wide applications is to greatly increase the size and scope of the individual funding requests by including components from multiple community partners under a single grant application. This increases the amount of funding coming into Lake County for projects in addition to making grant funding available to individuals that may otherwise lack capacity to obtain grant funding on their own.
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Regional Forest and Fire Capacity ProgramCLERC is engaged in the Regional Forest and Fire Capacity (RFFC) Program to further advance landscape-scale forest management in Lake County. Since July 2019, CLERC has been working with the Watershed Research and Training Center (WRTC) to build capacity for increased landscape-scale forest health projects in Lake County.
Regional Priority PlanningCLERC is developing a Regional Prioritization Plan that identifies and prioritizes projects at the landscape level to address forest health and wildfire risks within Lake County. CLERC's goal for this plan is to develop a framework for streamlining future community-wide projects and funding proposals through better monitoring and prioritization.
Biomass UtilizationCLERC is working with partners to utilize local biomass resources as a way to fund forest management activities. Biomass utilization includes energy, heat, and other products. UC ANR has excellent information about biomass utilization.
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The photos below show the impacts of recent wildfire to the Wolf Creek Watershed near the community of Spring Valley in Clearlake Oaks, CA. The photos were taken on August 27, 2018, just weeks after the Pawnee Fire and Ranch Fire burned the entire watershed with high intensity leaving little vegetation.
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Fire & Forestry: Current Projects
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Learn More:
Story Maps:
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Resources:
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Clear Lake Environmental Research Center is a nonprofit, tax-exempt charitable organization (tax identification number 47-1489147) under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Donations are tax-deductible as allowed by law.
© 2021 Clear Lake Environmental Research Center, PO Box 636 Lakeport, CA 95453 |