Fire Restoration
Partnership with Plumas National Forest in Storrie, Rich, and Moonlight Fire Areas
The 2000 Storrie Fire consumed 56,000 acres of public land in the Plumas & Lassen National Forests. Fire settlement funds were secured to support the restoration of timber, wildlife, watershed, recreational and scenic values. In 2010 the PUSD entered into a historic partnership with the Plumas National Forest to assist in restoration efforts and enhance science education outcomes for grades four through twelve. This partnership was reaffirmed in 2015 after four highly successful years of programming and expanded to include the 2007 Moonlight Fire. The partnership with the USFS and related programming will continue until 2020.
Forest Service specialists identify appropriate projects each year that are integrated into the 4th-12th-grade science curriculum. An average of 60 field trips occurs each year through which students study, monitor, recreate and restore impacted areas of the Storrie, Rich, and Moonlight Fire areas. Students participating in restoration activities are official Forest Service volunteers, following a formal USFS Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) and wearing prescribed Personal Protection Equipment (PPE). Students act the part as they take part in real-world stewardship.
Stewardship and education activities include:
Forest Service specialists identify appropriate projects each year that are integrated into the 4th-12th-grade science curriculum. An average of 60 field trips occurs each year through which students study, monitor, recreate and restore impacted areas of the Storrie, Rich, and Moonlight Fire areas. Students participating in restoration activities are official Forest Service volunteers, following a formal USFS Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) and wearing prescribed Personal Protection Equipment (PPE). Students act the part as they take part in real-world stewardship.
Stewardship and education activities include:
-
Tree planting
-
Native species propagation, planting & monitoring
-
Invasive plant species eradication
-
Songbird Nesting
-
Carnivore Monitoring- Students use motion sensor wildlife cameras to track carnivore populations in the Feather River Canyon.
-
Owl Protected Activity Centers - Owl Protected Activity Center projects remove the duff surrounding potential nesting trees for Owl and Goshawk. This protects trees from fire girdling.
-
Fuel Reduction - Students reduce the threat of fire in critical areas and learn how to undo the damage of 100 years of fire suppression
-
Trail construction & management
-
Campground construction
-
Feather River geology tour
-
Questing
-
Photopoint monitoring
-
Fire history transect hikes
