RCD Board Members
Receive Honors
RCD Board Chairman, Mike Rourke, was awarded an honorary American Farmer Degree by the national Future Farmers of America. This is the highest award given to adults in the nationwide program. He received the award at the national FFA convention held in Louisville, Kentucky. Mike has taught agriculture for 26 years, 21 of those at Trinity High School.
Board Director, Patrick Truman was elected President of the California Association of Resource Conservation Districts (CARCD) at their Annual Meeting held in San Luis Obispo. With 103 Resource Conservation Districts in California, CARCD serves its member Districts by linking federal and state resource agencies to locally led conservation throughout the State and by participating in legislative affairs. Patrick is an associate realtor at Trinity River Realty.
|
Down River Fuels Reduction
The RCD began implementing the Salyer / Hawkins Bar Community Protection Fuels Project in the fall of 2004. Funding comes from the Trinity County Resource Advisory Committee, Six Rivers National Forest and the US Forest Service's Community Protection Program. This project will create a shaded fuel break along the river corridor near the subdivision of Suzy Q on public lands and defensible space around homes on private lands.
This project will benefit the communities in the Down River portion of Trinity County, which is an area of high fire risk. The TCRCD has been working in several North Lake, Mid-Trinity, and South Fork communities, and this project will begin to address high priority fuels reduction projects in Salyer and Hawkins Bar, as identified in the Trinity County Fire Management Plan completed by the Trinity County Fire Safe Council in 2002. These communities are identified as "Communities at Risk".
The partnership provided through the cooperation of the TCRCD, the Volunteer Fire Departments, US Forest Service, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF) and the Trinity County Fire Safe Council make this project both feasible and cost effective. Project partners agree that keeping up the momentum of our strategic planning and project implementation is tremendously important.
 |
Existing Fuels Condition
on South Fork Road |
In January, residents along South Fork Road met at the Salyer Volunteer Fire Hall to discuss risks, hazards and possible solutions to reduce the severe fire hazard situation in their neighborhood. South Fork Road is 9.2 miles of very narrow road with flammable material growing right up to the road, especially along Forest Service property. It gets a lot of traffic in the summer months for South Fork Trinity River access. Access to water sources in the event of a fire is also a critical concern.
CDF has indicated that with the situation as it now stands, they would not be able to safely send fire engines into this area in the event of a wildfire as the risk is too great.
The meeting was designed to educate residents regarding fire safety, protection, defensible space, and the efforts of the Trinity County Fire Safe Council to reduce the risk of catastrophic fire in communities throughout the county. Ingrid Landis-Davis and JoSan Metz from Trinity Pines were there to share the success they have had in their community implementing fuels reduction projects on both public and private lands.
|
