Lassen County Fire Safe Council, and its Diamond Mountain Initiative partners are preparing for a busy year as spring is about to break. Over $1,250,000 in watershed and forest restoration treatments will be underway once the snow subsides and the ground dries out. The majority of the work will consist of thinning treatments that will help make the forest along Diamond Mountain more resilient.
The treatments will be conducted on private land adjacent to the Lassen National Forest and along the Diamond Mountain Motorway. The work along the motorway will have an additional benefit in the form of providing safer access for firefighter suppression efforts that protect both the watershed and the community.
DMI partnership consists of representatives from LCFSC (the project lead), Lassen County, the Lassen and Plumas National Forests, BLM, CAL FIRE, Honey Lake Valley RCD, W.M. Beaty and Associates, Susan River Fire Protection District, HL, Power and several private landowners.
Through their combined efforts over 1.3 million dollars for restoration treatments have been committed to date from Sierra Nevada Conservancy, US Forest Service, California Fire Safe Council and CAL FIRE. The Lassen County Board of Supervisors has made the DMI one of its highest priorities. In addition, the National Forest Foundation has provided the group with capacity funds for their efforts that will ultimately benefit the National Forest.
The National Forest Foundation promotes the enhancement and public enjoyment of the 193-million-acre National Forest System. By directly engaging Americans and leveraging private and public funding, the NFF improves forest health and Americans’ outdoor experiences. The NFF’s programs inform millions of Americans about the importance of these treasured landscapes. Each year, the NFF restores fish and wildlife habitat, plants trees in areas affected by fires, insects and disease, improves recreational opportunities, and enables communities to steward their National Forests and Grasslands.
LCFSC will be conducting additional landowner sign ups over the next several months. Treatment contracts have been awarded to Tubit Enterprises, Inc. (biomass thinning) and Evans Right of Way, Inc. (mastication treatments). CAL FIRE Conservation Crews will do the bulk of the hand treatments along the Diamond Mountain Motorway.
“It is of particular importance to get as many landowners signed up as possible along the Diamond Mountain Motorway in order to make this important access road as safe as possible for our fire fighters and the public,” said Tom Esgate, LCFSC Managing Director.
In addition to the restoration work on private land, DMI is assisting the Lassen National Forest with getting National Environmental Policy Act clearance for similar work to be conducted on National Forest System Lands. The group hopes this can be accomplished by next winter and it is actively in search of funds to assist with these treatments as well.
For more information on the project contact: Lassen County Fire Safe Council, Inc. 530-251-5560.
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