The Shasta County Air Quality Management District is doing its part to restore resilient, carbon‑storing, and wildfire‑resistant forests and protect public health across northern California with help from a $159,000 grant from California Climate Investments through the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) Prescribed Fire Reporting and Monitoring Program. The program supports state forest management and wildfire resilience goals by providing local resources that improve the prescribed burn planning, smoke monitoring, and air quality data collection. These improvements facilitate the implementation of prescribed burning, while also providing the Shasta County Air Quality Management District and the public better information on smoke in order to protect human health.
Shasta County has a decades‑long history of working with the U.S. Forest Service, CAL FIRE, the local forest industry, and private foresters to safely manage the use of prescribed fire, with the goal of reducing natural wildland fuels while minimizing smoke impacts on community health. In 2019, the Shasta County Air Quality Management District partnered with CARB to improve its existing smoke management and prescribed fire monitoring activities. The program has specific objectives to:
Better train, plan and coordinate burning with federal, state and private forest managers;
Acquire, maintain and deploy portable air monitors for ready use by Shasta County and neighboring districts;
Perform air monitoring for smoke conditions associated with prescribed burns;
Collect additional prescribed burn and air quality data to support forestry and health studies; and
Provide public education on the wildfire reduction and forest ecology benefits of prescribed burning.
“A lot goes into the decision to approve each burn, which is based on forecasted air quality, weather, local geography, fuel type, and fuel condition, all of which affect smoke dispersion,” notes Shasta County Air Quality Management District program lead Kyle Willard. “This new training and equipment, as well as the funding to utilize it, are providing our district and the state with valuable data that helps us increase prescribed burning while still protecting our communities from smoke. The ability to monitor gives us greater confidence to approve burns and to respond to public questions about smoke impacts.”
Shasta County, one of thirty mostly rural air districts participating in CARB’s program, is among the program’s leading successes. In 2020, prescribed fires within the district nearly tripled in number over the preceding 3‑year average, from 64 to 173. The number of acres burned doubled over the same time period, from 4,700 to 9,600, thereby helping to reduce the severity of future wildfires.