In collaboration with forest industry and utility partners and the Modoc National Forest, the Pit Resource Conservation District is implementing a $5 million California Climate Investments Forest Health grant to increase forest resilience in Modoc County. The fuels reduction and prescribed fire activities funded by this project will take place on public and private lands to increase forest resilience, accelerate reforestation of severely burned forests, and reduce the risk of future catastrophic fire impacts to local communities, ecosystems, and natural resources. This project complements efforts by state, federal, and local agencies to increase the pace and scale of fuel treatments in California’s forests.
Decreasing forest density and reducing surface fuels are key steps towards building a resilient landscape in this region. The U.S. Forest Service and the Pit Resource Conservation District designed approximately 6,500 acres of fuels reduction treatments meant to restore forest structure and facilitate the widespread use of prescribed fire by removing biomass, thinning vegetation, and shifting plant life towards more drought and fire tolerant species. Thinning treatments will also help reduce tree competition for limited water and nutrients, thereby reducing the risk of greenhouse gas emissions from insect and disease caused tree mortality. Construction of a ridge top shaded fuel break will protect two subdivisions in Modoc County and three high voltage transmission lines.
Prescribed burns are being used to maintain the benefits of widespread thinning and to begin restoring fire as a natural process in forests throughout the project area. Prescribed burning is designed to create favorable conditions across the landscape at scale that helps reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire and poor air and water quality. If fires do occur, fire size and severity will be reduced, resulting in reduced greenhouse gas emissions when compared to fires in untreated forests.
Wood chips generated from the project are also being utilized by local biomass facilities to generate energy and reduce fossil fuel consumption. These local facilities provide employment opportunities in the adjacent rural, low-income communities. Benefits extend to local commerce and tax revenues.
Modoc Forest Supervisor Chris Christofferson greatly appreciates this project: “The [grant] has proven to be invaluable. It has resulted in more intentional conversations and the development of focused partnerships designed to make our forest communities and safer places to live and recreate.”