We have apparently gotten lucky this year with a relatively quiet fire season. Our neighbors to the north in the Smith River and Klamath watersheds have suffered major fires and our best wishes to them. Here we can breathe a sigh of relief but we shouldn’t drop our efforts to make our communities safer. Winter is the time to plan future projects and get out there and thin and burn, make biochar and establish shaded fuel breaks.
With this in mind, we are planning an event next Saturday, November 4, 2023 at Harwood Hall in Laytonville. We’re calling it the Forest Health Extravaganza. Co-sponsored by the Eel River Recovery Project and the Northern Mendocino Ecosystem Recovery Alliance and other community groups, we will have a full day of speakers and workshops about fire resilience and forest health.
The event is free with a free lunch served at noon and a free dinner wrapping up the day at 5:00pm. We start at 9:00 am with a series of short talks for everyone. After lunch we will break into groups for detailed discussions on various topics in 3 locations. We hope you will join us and your neighbors in planning our future and protecting our community.
Come with your questions and concerns. Find out how you can get help treating your land and improving our watersheds. Interested in working in the restoration economy? Using prescribed fire to make the forest healthier? Helping to plan how fires will be fought in your neighborhood?
Get answers to these questions and add your voice to the discussion.
Schedule
Morning sessions will be presentations in Harwood Hall for the whole group. Hear the voices of some important leaders and discover resources to help you plan the future.
Start 9:00 am
- Opening/Welcome – Cahto Tribe
- Maximizing Forest Health Economic Opportunity – Supervisor John Haschak
- Restoring Forest Health – Following the Path to Harmony- Pat Higgins ERRPCALFIRE
- Red Mt/Usal Project – Karen Youngblood RFFI
- Opportunities for Funding Forest Health and Related Activities – Tim Bailey
- Bringing Back Good Fire – Scott Steinbring Torchbearr
- Community Organizing for Forest Health & Fire Safety – Emily Tecchio
- Forest Reciprocity and Multi-stakeholder Cooperatives – Matilda & Bodhi FRG
- Building Regional Forest Health Capacity at the Grassroots – Will Emerson
Lunch provided at 12:00pm
Breakouts in the afternoon in three locations to explore topics in more depth. Start 1:00 pm – finish by 5:00 pm
Harwood Hall
- PODs – Points of Fire Defense & Shaded Fuel Breaks – With Ella Griffith & Will Emerson
- Prescribed Fire as Part of Forest & Grassland Health – Panel Discussion
Garden Club
- What to Do w/ Forest Health Wood #1: Aggregation of Woody Biomass: Exploring a Multi-stakeholder Cooperatives Hosted by the Forest Reciprocity Group (FRG)
- What to Do w/ Forest Health Wood #2: Furniture & Structures – Vincent Brown & John Cunnan, FRG, & Jessica Roemer (NM ERA)
- Community Cooperative Use of Biochar to Create Living Soils – CaseyO’Neill (Happy Day Farms) & Karen Youngblood (RFFI)
ERRP Office (next to the Branch Library in Hoiland Plaza)
- Organizing Capacity to Obtain More Forest Health Grant Resources – Emily Tecchio (Mendocino Fire Safe Council) & Cheyenne Clarke (NM ERA)
- Using Forest Health Wood for Stream and Landscape Restoration – Pat Higgins
Dinner to follow at 5:00pm.