Sierra Institute for Community and Environment

...promotes healthy and sustainable forests and watersheds by investing in the well-being of rural communities and strengthening their participation in natural resource decisions and programs.

Originally operating in the back of a winery in Westwood, California, The Sierra Institute, formerly known as Forest Community Research, relocated to Taylorsville, California in 1996. The Sierra Institute works with rural people, from newly arrived immigrants to long-time county residents, along with organizations and government agencies to design and facilitate processes that help us understand and build collaboration for sustainable community development and stewardship of our natural resources. We have a diverse project set which includes leading educational natural resources tours, collaborating with the local high school to expose students to natural resources, and convening health partners in the county to increase services. We work hard to bridge what we learn through these local projects to what is happening in state and national policy-making.

Research, education, and community collaboration are the tools of our trade. Our work ranges from researching the outcomes of a national law on rural communities, to leading tours on the land to showcase rural people’s involvement in taking care of forests, meadows and waterways, to facilitating assessments and bilingual dialogues about health care, to bringing updated telemedicine equipment to rural communities, to testifying in the halls of Congress.

Connections...

What's happening in and around Sierra Institute

From Soda Rock to Grizzly Dome
Join Dr. Derek Lerch as we travel down
Hwy 70 exploring the Geology of the Sierra Nevada & Cascades

See and learn about the geologic evolution of the Northern Sierra Nevada over the past 300-million years.  Discuss plate tectonics, basic rock types, and river mechanics.  See the Melones Fault...which some say is responsible for most of the gold in California.

We'll start in Taylorsville at the Sierra Institute offices and continue to travel down Hwy 70 to Grizzly Dome.  We'll also visit the Gem and Mineral room in the Indian Valley Museum in Taylorsville.

Cost is only $50 persons/$95 per couple.  Morning refreshments, beverages, snacks, and a tasty lunch are provided along with comfortable transportation, pertinent handouts, and fun-filled day of learning.

Also...

UPCOMING EVENTS

Site Credits: John Bennett