Conservation Districts are a testament to this observation. A devastating crisis gripped the nation from the epicenter of severe drought in the Great Plains in the 1930’s. Our predecessors had to find new ways to tackle the problem of soil erosion. They had to think at a new level. They did it, in part, by creating a network of local organizations – soil and water conservation districts.

This spirit of innovation is still alive and drives our District to look at our problems and seek new ways to solve them. I like to think the Weaverville Community Forest is an example of thinking about a set of issues at a different level. The community’s partnership with BLM through the District is the template for a similar partnership with the USFS. We will be asking you to help us develop a vision for a Weaverville Community Forest that grows to include federal lands being managed by the USFS in the Weaverville Basin.

Climate Change has finally come to the forefront as a conservation topic. Here is a truly significant problem we all face. Solving it will require thinking at a new level. I believe that the forests we live in, and around, can play an important role in the solution to Climate Change. Today we can get on the Internet and buy “carbon credits” to offset the impact of our travel. These credits might be to plant trees in the tropics, buy energy efficient lighting for a school in Europe or to help install windmills in Kansas. Noble efforts for sure, but I would like to propose that we look closer to home and create a Climate Change Credit Bank that captures the benefits that the federal forestlands in Trinity County provide. Instead of buying credits to restore rainforests in the Amazon, why not market Trinity Forest Credits. A market-based carbon credit (or offset) bank for our forests could be used to pay for work that needs to be done to improve our forests’ health and resiliency so that these forests will provide benefits to a stable climate for many years to come. The Weaverville Community Forest is the perfect place to test out this new level of thinking. Let’s demonstrate that we can face a significant problem with a new way of thinking about our forests. Let’s find a new way to have the forests finance themselves and the forest-dependent way of life of Trinity County.

Getting ready for fire season? Pruning trees? May is Wildfire Awareness Month and you can avoid hauling or burning your tree and brush trimmings by taking advantage of TCRCD’s free chipping service. You or your neighborhood must have at least 3 hours worth of chipping in order to qualify. All branches must be stacked in the same direction.

Call the District at 623-6004 or go to our Community Chipping page for more information.

This chipping project of the TCRCD is intended to provide fire safe communities and improve air quality. It is funded by the North Coast Unified Air Quality Management District and the Western States Wildland Urban Interface Grant Program.