The California Conservation Corps (CCC), a state department within the California Natural Resources Agency, uses funds from California Climate Investments to complete projects aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions across California. These funds target forest health projects, especially fuel load reduction where dead and dying trees, brush, and vegetation are removed to reduce wildfire intensity and rate of spread. The McKay Community Forest Fuel Reduction project provided skilled labor to Humboldt County to minimize fire danger near communities on the southeastern edge of the City of Eureka.
The McKay Community Forest is 1,194 acres and borders the communities of Eureka, Cutten, and Ridgewood Heights. In May 2020, the CCC Fortuna Center provided over $129,000 worth of labor and equipment to Humboldt County Public Works to treat 16 acres of the forest that pose high fire risk near these communities.
“The work was kind of tough at times,” said Corpsmember David Markson, who worked on the project. “We were mostly clearing out brush, cutting down some trees, but cutting through the overgrown grasses was the toughest part.”
Markson, a San Diego native, joined the CCC to become part of the conservation movement and explore his future career options. CCC’s project work must incorporate on‑the‑job training. For Markson, that training included learning how shaded fuel breaks and removing vegetation help protect communities, increase the forest’s survivability from catastrophic wildfire, and reduce the greenhouse gases wildfires can emit. He also continued his hands‑on training of utilizing a woodchipper as the crew reduced the fuel load across the 16 acres.
“It was pretty rewarding because, while it was tough, at the end of it all we made quite a lot of progress,” Markson said. “Knowing that people live nearby and there could be a threat of wildfire is something I thought about while we were working on the project. Completing the job left me with something I can feel good about.”
Corpsmembers contributed 3,857 working hours on the fuel reduction project. The work and creation of a shaded fuel break satisfies the CAL FIRE Humboldt‑Del Norte Operational Unit’s fire plan for fuel reduction projects in the area, which is deemed to hold high fire danger.