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CEO of 34 North. “We collect information you might need for grants.” The data portal is an exciting development because it incorporates project info from multiple agencies, Osti said. So you can log on and find out what kind of fuel reduction is being done in Concow and where it stops, for instance. It also includes real-time conditions collected from sensors throughout the region. Ali Meders-Knight, representing the Mechoopda Indian Tribe, talked about a project to emphasize traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) into local forest management. It was a priority listed in the 2018 Farm Bill, one that extended its conservation stewardship program to 20 years. Because the Mechoopda’s ancestral land encompasses much of Butte County, the tribe is looking to incorporate practices such as prescribed burns and educate people about native plants and forest management from a holistic perspective. “We’re looking at the ecological end results within 20 years,” Meders-Knight said. “Wildfire risk mitigation, fuel reduction … watershed restoration, aquifer recharge, restoration of native ecosystems.” The final presenter of the day was Tracy Hruska, from the Sierra Institute, a newcomer to the region with a base in Taylorsville. His organization, a nonprofit, plans to fund innovative projects that aid the deforestation effort in the Sierra Nevada Conservancy region, which encompasses 25 million acres ,including parts of Butte County. “The problem with overforestation is it’s expensive to deal with,” Hruska said. “You get a lot of slash piles, and the wood tends to get burned in place. Then you’re not recovering any costs. But there are products that can come out of this— firewood, chipping, biomass.” He highlighted some projects implemented elsewhere, like a biomass boiler system that heats an entire building in Quincy, or pellet chippers that can create fuel for home wood stoves. “We want to increase the ability of rural communities to do good work and contribute to forest management,” he continued. “It’s a lack of forest management that’s gotten us here.” —Meredith J. Cooper me r e d i th c @ newsr ev iew.c o m
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CN&R
December 12, 2019