Join Feather River RCD for a tree planting day April 22
Feather River Resource Conservation District and the University of California Cooperative Extension will be hosting a tree planting event on Saturday, April 22, at 9 a.m. in Greenville. This event will coincide with the first round of reforestation happening around Indian Valley. Meeting location will be at the Greenville Cemetery District Office at 133 Hideaway Road.
This represents the first step in a three-year Emergency Forest Restoration Team project led by Feather River RCD and a coalition of local partners, which anticipates planting a minimum of 3,000 acres of private non-industrial forest land within Plumas County. The program is offered at no cost to private landowners in Plumas County affected by wildfires in 2020 or 2021. An enrollment form can be found on http://www.frrcd.org. Funding is provided through CALFIRE, USDA State and Private Forestry, and the private non-profit One Tree Planted. Provided services include site evaluations from a licensed Registered Professional Forester, mechanical site preparation/ dead tree removal, reforestation, and follow-up release treatments.
“This planting project has been a long time coming” said Michael Hall, District Manager for Feather River RCD. “We’ve been slowly working on getting properties ready for trees, it’s rewarding to finally be able to do so.” Tree planting is just one step in the process of reforestation, and follows the removal of dead trees and downed woody debris, also known as “site preparation,” which creates suitable conditions for seedlings. In the aftermath of wildfire, understory vegetation such as Ceanothus species (e.g. deerbrush, snowbrush, whitethorn, mahala mat) and Arctostaphylos species(e.g. Greenleaf and whiteleaf manzanitas) will quickly re-establish in the absence of competition from mature trees. Manually planting seedlings will help speed up the process of establishing a young mixed conifer forest. This is especially true in the case of high severity areas that do not have access to mature overstory for natural regeneration. It is essential to establish our mixed-conifer seedlings early and actively support their survival by managing the competing vegetation. Feather River RCD has purchased approximately 160,000 Douglas fir, ponderosa pine, jeffrey pine, incense cedar, and sugar pine seedlings, selected for local seed zones and elevations, to be planted over the next two months, primarily on properties surrounding Indian Valley.
Additional benefits to reforestation include carbon sequestration, clean air and water, soil stability, habitat creation, and much more. Over 19,000 acres of private non-industrial forestlands in Plumas County were impacted by the 2020 and 2021 wildfires, and the Plumas Emergency Forest Restoration Team project represents a timely and locally based effort to restore community forests. Brad Underwood, Project Coordinator with the Feather River RCD, believes “planting seedlings that are native to our area is another step toward restoring the landscape, promoting healthy, fire resilient forests and communities, and recapturing the beauty of the area that was present before the recent fires.”
The event will kick off with an educational presentation by University of California Cooperative Extension Foresters on post-fire restoration considerations, reforestation strategies, planting techniques, and young tree cultivation for private landowners.
Be prepared to get dirty at this volunteer event as we will be planting trees on uneven and sloped terrain. Please come prepared with water (2-3 liters), long pants, sturdy closed toed shoes, work gloves, sun protection, a lunch, and a camp chair if you prefer to sit off the ground!.
Questions about this event or enrollment in the program can be directed to (530) 927-5299. Or emailed to [email protected]. Resources for landowners can also be found on the websites https://ucanr.edu/sites/forestry/Contact/Staff/ or https://frrcd.org/
