Oregon Mountain Regional Fuels Reduction Project in Weaverville ($75,000). This project will implement fuels reduction on 75 acres in an area identified in the Trinity County Fire Safe Council’s Strategic Fire Management Plan as a high priority. This project calls for a shaded fuel break along a heavily traveled residential road, a regional fuel break along a strategic ridge, and defensible space around 25 residences with property values of over $3.6 million. This project was submitted at the request of John Richards and several other landowners who have been part of a Program Timberland Environmental Impact Report (PTEIR) for forest lands in the Weaverville Basin completed by the Trinity RC&D Council. Approximately 25 families in this area have expressed a strong interest in implementing the recommended fuels reduction.

Bar 717 Ranch Perimeter Fuel Management Zone Project in Hyampom ($50,000). This project will create a shaded fuel break roughly 200’ wide along the private property/national forest interface. This high-risk property is comprised of two parcels totaling 450 acres, surrounded by US Forestlands. The goal of this project is to create a fuel management zone that encompasses the boundaries of the Ranch property, for a total of 36,369’. Total acres treated would be about 167 acres.

Down River Communities Fire Safe Plan and Demonstration Project ($50,000). Funds will be used to implement high priority defensible space treatments around homes in order to reduce the risk of catastrophic fire in the Down River communities, including Salyer, Hawkins Bar, Burnt Ranch, Del Loma, Big Bar and Big Flat as per the recommendations of the Trinity County Fire Safe Council. More detailed community fire management plans will be developed as well. These communities have not yet had any assistance with fuels reduction projects, but have expressed interest, especially following the large fire events of 1999 and 2001. The RCD will work with the local Volunteer Fire Departments in these communities to provide necessary planning, outreach, technical assistance, and labor to implement recommended defensible space fuels reduction projects on private lands.

The US Forest Service’s Rural Community and Private Land Fire Assistance Program also approved the Trinity County Fuels Utilization Pilot Project for $50,000. This project will allow for the purchase of a portable tub grinder or its functional equivalent for woody debris utilization. This equipment will be made available to neighborhoods as a free service to those involved in fuels reduction efforts. This project will encourage the sustainable use of material that could eventually help fund the recommended community fuels reduction effort. The wood products such as chips, mulch and compost resulting from this project will be donated to the communities participating in fuels reduction projects.

The Trinity County Resource Advisory Committee has approved funding for fuel reduction at the Trinity Center Ball Park (for $34,000), for shaded fuel break along Highway 3 and Rush Creek Road on US Forest Service lands (for $125,000), and for thinning US Forest Service lands within the Covington Mill Neighborhood (for $24,000).

The Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Environmental Quality Incentive Program is also funding 50% cost share to several landowners implementing fuels reduction in the North Lake and Southern Trinity areas.

The fact that so many of these fuels reduction projects have been funded recently demonstrates the effectiveness of the Trinity County Fire Safe Council and the momentum created by its planning and education and outreach efforts. We would like to encourage other communities and neighborhoods to take part in this process and make your homes safer from the risk of wildfires.