Portola and Quincy students lend a hand for habitats, learn about fuel reduction in a well-managed forest
City kids don’t know what they’re missing.
Even a day out in the forest helping to reduce fuel sources from fallen branches and cleared shrubs is a cool class assignment for Plumas Unified School District students because — well, it’s a day out in the forest!
As part of their acclaimed Outdoor Core environmental education studies, several students from Portola Junior-Senior High School and Quincy Junior-Senior High School went out into the woods Dec. 20. It was a great day for forest and habitat management.
Working with Plumas National Forest Wildlife Biologist Colin Dillingham and members of the Plumas Hot Shots, the students came from the PHS School Fire Science class and the QHS Natural Resources class.
They earned some well-deserved aches and happy smiles working on fuel reduction that is part of the Storrie Owl Protected Activity Center project from the Fire Restoration Partnership between the PNF and PUSD.
The project is underway because PNF’s Mt. Hough Ranger District is reducing hazardous fuels to improve California Spotted Owl and Northern Goshawks habitat adjacent to the Storrie Fire in Plumas County.
According to the forest service, activities for the Storrie Fire Fuels Reduction in Spotted Owl and Goshawk Habitat Project (known as the Storrie PAC Project) include hand thinning, hand piling, burning of piles, underburning and the obliteration of non-system roads.
The project goals are to reduce hazardous fuels, reintroduce fire as an ecological process and restore terrestrial wildlife habitat.
Sounds like the willing student workers from Quincy and Portola learned a lot about their local wilderness and did a great turn for the forest, too. Cool partnership in action!
