Burney-Hat Creek Project Gets Funding:
Money Set For Vegetation, Brush Removal
By David Benda-Thursday, February 2, 2012
A land management project in eastern Shasta County got a $605,000 boost from the federal government Thursday - the first installment under a program that will total $12.5-million spent in the Burney-Hat Creek basins by 2019.
The Burney-Hat Creek Basins Project was one of twenty forest and watershed restoration efforts to receive a combined $40-million from the US Forest Service. The money will go toward vegetation and brush removal in an area between 1,500- and 2,00-acres south of the Thousand Lakes Wilderness, estimated Kit Mullen,Hat Creek District Range on the Lassen National Forest.
"A program like this helps us move toward more reliable work on National Forest (lands) and toward more sustainable communities that we talk about," Mullen said.
The Burney-Hat Creek Basin and 19-other Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration efforts are expected to create 1,550 jobs, according to the federal government.
Mullen could not say how many of those jobs will come to the Intermountain area. The 369,000-acres that encompass the project include land overgrown that it has created an intense wildfire danger that could put communities at risk, Mullen said. Treatments associated with the project will help maintain a sustainable flow of logs and wood biomass for bioenergy, according to the executive summary.
Among the representatives on the Burney-Hat Creek Community Forest and Watershed Collaborative Group are the Forest Service, private timber companies, recreation enthusiasts, environmental groups, Pacific Gas & Electric Co., ranchers, timber contractors, the Pit River Tribe, and the Lassen Volcanic National Park.
Mullen explained that work also will encourage species diversity. "In taking fire (risk) off the landscape, we are not doing as much mechanical treatment in the way of timber sales now," Mullen said. "So now we are going back to an area, 30-, 40-, 50-years later and not just realizing that we have more vegetation...but a shift in species. For example, we have more white fir than we used to have, so you have a shift from a healthy diversity to a monoculture."
The decaying timber and brush targeted for removal are commodities the Forest Service can't sell.
"So this is something we have to pay somebody to go in and do the work," Mullen explained.
The $605,000 award will help pay for that work.
Thursday's news was tucked into US Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack's announcement of a new report that outlines strategies to increasing restoration work and job creation on public lands. The plan is designed to expand the number of forest acres treated by 20% over the next three years.
"Whether the threat comes from wildfire, bark beetles, or a changing climate, it is vital that we step up our efforts to safeguard our country's natural resources," Vilsack said in a statement.
Burney-Hat Creek Forest and Watershed Group
Receives 2011 Regional Forester's Honor Award
The Sierra Institute is proud to announce that the Burney-Hat Creek Community Forest and Watershed Group has won the 2011 Regional Forester's Honor Award for All Lands Collaborative work. Supported by the Shasta Resource Advisory Committee, and working with the Fall River Resource Conservation District (RCD), the Sierra Institute conducted a stakeholder assessment and socioeconomic evaluation of the area, and over the last year and a half has been working with the group to improve resource management on public and private land.
What makes the work unique is the focus on restoring the land, and improving the local economies and community well-being in the 365,000-acre Burney and Hat Creek watersheds, that lie just to the north of Lassen peak in Northeastern California. Also unique is the work of the Sierra Institute and the Fall River Resource Conservation District with four private timberland landowners that are working together to conduct meadow restoration, aspen enhancement, and Burney watershed improvement generally on over 2000-acres, on what is developing into one of the largest watershed restoration projects in the State of California.
Award Night for Burney-Hat Creek Collaborative photo: Right to Left: Kit Mullen, Hat Creek District Ranger (speaking); Jerry Bird, Lassen National Forest Supervisor, Don Curtis, Group member, Todd Sloat, Fall River Resource Conservation District and Group Co-Facilitator, Jonathan Kusel, and Randy Moore, Regional Forester for Region 5.
Burney Creek – Hat Creek Community
Forestry Project
The purpose of this project is to improve social, environmental, and economic conditions in the Burney Creek and Hat Creek watersheds. These two watersheds include all of the land that drains into Burney Creek and Hat Creek, totaling 364,250 acres. Fifty-eight percent of the land is in the Lassen National Forest. Another 29 percent is owned by large private forestland owners and 4 percent by large ranches. The communities of Burney, Johnson Park, Hat Creek, Cassel, and Old Station lie within these two watersheds. Local communities suffer from high unemployment and a high risk of wildfire, and there is a recognized need for a coordinated public-private effort to address these and other concerns.
The goal of this project is to develop a plan and projects that integrate sustainable natural resource management with socioeconomic development across the 364,000-acre, two-watershed project area.
Phase one of the project will bring together public land managers, large landowners, and communities in the watersheds to identify ways to:
- Improve management of natural resource needs that cross land ownership boundaries, such as wildfire, water quality and quantity, and wildlife habitat;
- Improve public participation in national forest planning and project development; and
- Improve social and economic conditions, such as employment opportunities, in local communities.
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The Burney and Hat Creek watersheds were chosen because they have both a recognized need for environmental and socioeconomic improvements and the capacity to address them. Burney offers three biomass plants and two small-log sawmills that provide local jobs and support fuels reduction on forestlands around the communities. There are opportunities for expanded recreation and tourism development, particularly in the Hat Creek watershed. Equally importantly, the Forest Service, large landowners, and community members are willing to work together to improve conditions in this area.
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The Shasta Resource Advisory Committee (RAC) under Title II of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act recommended this project. The RAC recommends grants for projects that will help improve forest and watershed health and economic stability in rural communities on or near national forest lands. The USDA Forest Service funds RAC-supported projects.
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The Forest Service has funded the Fall River Resource Conservation District and the Sierra Institute for Community and Environment to conduct the first phase of this project, a socioeconomic needs assessment, and to initiate a community planning process. This phase will include interviews and meetings with community members to clarify local goals for the watersheds and the communities. An advisory body will be created to review potential project activities and prioritize them in terms of importance and feasibility. By early summer 2010 there will be an established forum for ongoing collaboration and a plan of action for implementing on-the-ground activities.
Congress, under Title IV of Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, established the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP).
The purpose of the CFLR Program is to encourage the collaborative, science-based ecosystem restoration of priority forest landscapes.
The Secretary of Agriculture highlighted the need for pursing an "all lands approach to forest restoration" and called for close coordination with other landowners to encourage collaborative solutions through landscape-scale operations. The CFLR Program provides a means to achieve these aims and to also:
- encourage ecological, economic, and social sustainability;
- leverage local resources with national and private resources;
- facilitate the reduction of wildfire management costs, including through reestablishing natural fire regimes and reducing the risk of uncharacteristic wildfire;
- demonstrate the degree to which various ecological restoration techniques achieve ecological and watershed health objectives; and,
- encourage utilization of forest restoration by-products to offset treatment costs, to benefit local rural economies, to and improve forest health.
The Burney Creek-Hat Creek Basins CFLR Program Proposal
Below are listed several foundational documents and reports regarding the Burney Creek-Hat Creek CFLR Program Project. To learn more about each, click on the 'title' of each to be directed to a pdf document or a website.
- Burney Creek-Hat Creek Community Forestry Project (pdf)
This document describes a plan that integrates sustainable natural resource management with socioeconomic development within Burney Creek and Hat Creek watersheds.
- The Burney Creek-Hat Creek Watershed Assessment Plan (pdf)
This assessment and plan identifies goals and management objectives that together serve as a guide for the development of ecosystem improvements within the Burney Creek Watershed.
- North 49 Forest Health Recovery Project (pdf)
This document outlines the implementation of treatments that will begin restoring fire-adapted forest ecosystems by creating an all-age, multi-storied, more fire-resilient forest similar to pre-settlement condition on more than 42,000-acres of National Forest System lands within the Basins Project Area.
- North 49 Final Environment Impact Statement (pdf)
The US Forest Service, Lassen National Forest (LNF) has prepared the North 49 Forest Health Recovery Project Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS). This FEIS analyzes the effects of three action alternatives and a no-action alternative to begin restoring fire adapted forest ecosystems by creating an all-age, multi-storied more fire-resilient forest that approximates pre-settlement conditions. This FEIS discloses the direct, indirect, and cumulative environmental effects that wold result from the proposed action and alternatives. The alternatives analyzed include the Proposed Action (Alternative 1), the No-action Alternative (Alternative 2), Modified Proposed Action (Alternative 3)< and the Preferred Alternative (Alternative 7). Alternative 7 is the US Forest Service preferred alternative. This alternative more effectively achieves the Purpose, and better address resource issues and concerns such as late seral stage habitat for California spotted owls and American marten by creating a multi-age forest with structural and species diversity.
- R5 Ecological Restoration Leadership Intent (pdf)
This document provides a general definition of ecological restoration as well as the goals and aspirations for restoring ecosystems in Region 5.
- 2010 Aerial Survey Results: California (pdf)
This survey summarizes the aerial detections of current year mortality and damage rates of all forested land in California.
- Hat Creek Watershed Assessment and Watershed Management Plan (pdf)
This assessment and plan discusses the primary issues and concerns of the hat Creek Watershed as well as key management recommendations for projects and other actions that address those concerns.
- Pittville Vegetation Treatment - A Success Story (pdf)
This document provides a quick snapshot on how fuel reduction treatments play a significant role in reducing the size and scope of destructive wildfires.
- Framework for Sustainable Recreation (pdf)
This document outlines a national vision and strategy to meet the environmental, social, and economic needs of present and future generations for outdoor recreation.
- An Ecosystem Management Strategy for Sierran-Mixed Conifer Forests (pdf)
Researchers from the Pacific Southwest Research Station provide an outline of management recommendations such as an emphasis on the ecological role of fire, changing climate conditions, sensitive wildlife habitat, and the importance of diversity in forest structure.
- FSM 2020 (pdf)
This manual provides the agency with specific direction to reestablish and retain ecological resilience on National Forest System lands.
- A Strategic Fuels Reduction Plan for the Hat Creek Fire Safe Council and the Communities of Old Station, Hat Creek, and Cassel (pdf)
This plan provides a framework for reducing the threat of catastrophic wildfires adjacent tot he communities of hat Creek, Old Station, and Cassel.
- R-CAT Spreadsheet Wildfire Management Program Cost Analysis Spreadsheet (xlsm)
This spreadsheet summarizes the anticipated fire program cost savings after the full implementation of the project.
- Fire Spread Probability Model (pdf)
This model provides a visual interpretation of the reduction in burn probability by comparing the pre- and post- treatment conditions of the Basins Project Area.
- Lassen National Forest - Burney Creek-Hat Creek Community Forest and Watershed Project Methodology for Fire Spread Probability Model (FSPro) Analysis (pdf)
This document briefly describes how the fire Spread Probability Model works as well as what attributes were used in the simulation.
- Annual Activity Project Spreadsheet (xlsx)
This spreadsheet summarizes the annual activity schedule for treatments and associated costs in the Basins Project Area.
- California's Forest and Rangeland: 2010 Assessment (website)
This assessment identifies and summarized the key issues and trends across forest lands in California.
- California Forests and Rangelands: 2010 Strategy Report (pdf)
- This report utilized the findings identified int he 2010 Assessment to provide strategies that preserve the health and enhance the resiliency of California's forests ans rangelands.
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To learn more about this project, a report, Burney Creek Hat Creek Community Forestry Project Report (PDF) can be accessed here or feel free to contact:
Todd Sloat, Fall River Resource Conservation District
- Tel: (530) 336-5456
- Email:
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Jonathan Kusel, Sierra Institute for Community and Environment
- Tel: (530) 284-1022
- Email:
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Patty Betz, Fall River Resource Conservation District
- Tel: (530) 336-6591
- Email:
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A Sustainable Landscape Approach to Benefit the Local Community
California Forest Stewardship Program-Forestland Steward, Winter 2011
The Burney Creek-Hat Creek Integrated Watershed Management Project is an effort to organize the entire two-watershed area into a new type of community forest. In this model, community members provide management direction and help procure funding for projects that can improve local economic, social, and environmental conditions in the area.
Read more on Page 8 of the Forestland Steward-Winter 2011: http://ceres.ca.gov/foreststeward/html/newsletter.html
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