Project summary
The purpose of this project is to advance the planning and implementation of a multi-phased fuel reduction project identified as a priority project in the Humboldt County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) along and adjacent to the crest of Mail Ridge, a 54-mile-long strategic ridgeline in southern Humboldt and northern Mendocino Counties. This ambitious project aims to increase wildfire resiliency, protect nearby communities from fire risk, and make significant progress toward the restoration of traditionally low-intensity fire landscapes. Planning for Mail Ridge is a highly collaborative effort building upon years of sustained coordination among project partners including the North Coast Resource Partnership, California Coastal Conservancy, and the Trees Foundation.
This project is widely supported and championed by the community. It incorporates a workforce development component that leverages the operational capabilities of the Briceland Volunteer Fire Department’s (VFD) alongside the mutual aid structures of other volunteer fire departments in southern Humboldt County. The objective is to train qualified firefighters, thereby enhancing local capacity for forestry/fuels crews, facilitating the execution of planned treatments, and bolstering critical recruitment and retention efforts for the VFD, particularly in the face of a declining local economy. The Round Valley Indian Tribes (RVIT) Natural Resources Department will support the participation of RVIT tribal youth in the project’s training and future employment opportunities.
The August Complex of 2020 – A Close Call
When the August Complex Fire encroached into Humboldt County in September 2020, fire agencies devised a contingency plan to initiate a defensive backfire along Mail Ridge to protect southern Humboldt and northern Mendocino counties. Implementing such a plan would have been very challenging and underscored the critical need for a robust defensible break along this ridge.
Recognizing the strategic significance of Mail Ridge for the region, the Southern Humboldt Fire Safe Council (SHFSC) sought the support of the Humboldt County Resource Conservation District’s (HCRCD) in planning and implementing fuels reduction, forest health, and prescribed fire treatments along Mail Ridge.
Treatments
Treatment types will include shaded fuel breaks in closed-canopy forests, non-shaded fuel breaks in areas occupied by brush and small trees, treatments to reverse encroachment by conifers in historic oak woodlands, and broadcast burning in all vegetation types. Treatment methods will include manual treatment using chainsaws, brushcutters, and other hand tools; mechanical treatment using masticators; and prescribed and cultural fire.
Workforce development
The scale of the Mail Ridge project currently exceeds local resources and trained personnel, and successful implementation will require building regional capacity. To this end, Briceland Volunteer Fire Department is organizing a series of workforce development trainings with support from Trees Foundation. To connect with their workforce development program, email bricelandfire@gmail.com.
Restoring Cultural Fire
Native communities used controlled, low-intensity fire in the region for thousands of years, and this project supports regional capacity building to restore the practice of Native-led cultural fire activities to reduce fuel loads and bring many additional benefits. Cultural fire is similar in practice to prescribed fire but brings in additional elements like ceremony, community, and ongoing stewardship aimed at maximizing holistic benefits to the land and the people, plants, and animals living there. In addition to the many forest health benefits of prescribed fire, in some instances consenting landowners may choose to include Wailaki Natives in the planning, implementation, and ongoing stewardship of their lands to work towards restoring an even potentially greater level of benefit to their lands and communities. To learn more about Cultural fire, connect with Trees Foundation partnering Wailaki-led organizations, Native Health in Native Hands and the Wailaki Cultural Fire Crew.
For Landowners
At the heart of this project are the landowners living within and adjacent to the project area. Landowners of parcels that fall within the project area can work with the project team to help guide if, when, and how work will be done. Owners of adjacent parcels can take advantage of landowner consultations through Trees Foundation to discuss land management objectives and explore funding opportunities to achieve them. Participation is optional, but more landowners taking part will equal better protection for the community.
For Contractors
Contractors can register to be notified of future requests for proposals for this project as well as other HCRCD projects at HCRCD’s contractor portal site.
Funding Partners
This work is made possible through the generous support of our funding partners. Their contributions are instrumental in our efforts. The planning and development of this project is funded by the State Coastal Conservancy, North Coast Resource Partnership, and the CAL FIRE Forest Health Program.
Huestis Rock: Funding for this North Coast Resource Partnership (NCRP) CAL FIRE Forest Health Pilot subproject is provided by CAL FIRE’s Forest Health Program, through the NCRP as part of California Climate Investments. California Climate Investments is a statewide program that puts billions of Cap-and-Invest dollars to work reducing GHG emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment – particularly in disadvantaged communities. The Cap-and-Invest program also creates a financial incentive for industries to invest in clean technologies and develop innovative ways to reduce pollution. California Climate Investments projects include affordable housing, renewable energy, public transportation, zero-emission vehicles, environmental restoration, more sustainable agriculture, recycling, and much more. At least 35 percent of these investments are located within and benefiting residents of disadvantaged communities, low-income communities, and low-income households across California. For more information, visit http://www.caclimateinvestments.ca.gov.
Other Mail Ridge treatments: Funding for the remainder of the treatment units along Mail Ridge is provided directly through CAL FIRE’s Forest Health Program, with HCRCD as the grantee, as part of California Climate Investments (CCI). See more information on CCI above.
Mail Ridge Planning: This project also received funding from the State Coastal Conservancy. The Coastal Conservancy is a California state agency, established in 1976, to protect and improve natural lands and waterways, to help people get to and enjoy the outdoors, and to sustain local economies along California’s coast. It acts with others to protect and restore, and increase public access to, California’s coast, ocean, coastal watersheds, and the San Francisco Bay Area. Its vision is of a beautiful, restored, and accessible coast for current and future generations of Californians.