Earlier this year, Placer County Resource Conservation District (Placer RCD), with funding and support from CAL FIRE, developed the Placer Prescribed Burn Association (Placer PBA) to equip private landowners in the county with the skills, knowledge, and confidence necessary to use prescribed fire. Placer RCD recently received another $75,000 grant from Coalitions and Collaboratives, Inc., a Colorado-based organization that supports place-based natural conservation work, to expand staff capacity, increase technical assistance and workshops for landowners, and create a burn permit subsidy program.
Placer RCD will offer at least five workshops throughout the winter months that cover a spectrum of important prescribed fire topics with the focused intention of creating safe burn practitioners and transitioning knowledge into on-the-ground implementation. Topics include prescribed fire liability, permitting, fire effects on native plants, hazard mitigation, and heat management, among others. In addition, Placer RCD grant funds may support eligible workshop participants for subsidized air quality burn permits. The workshop series and associated demonstration burns have been made possible through strong multi-agency partnerships between Placer RCD, CAL FIRE, the University of California Cooperative Extension, Todd’s Valley Miwok Maidu Cultural Foundation, United Auburn Indian Community, Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), and Placer Air Quality Pollution Control District.
Placer RCD is dedicated to assisting the community by reducing barriers and improving access to resources and tools for fire-resilient communities, forests, and working lands. When conducted in a manner that generates low-severity impacts, prescribed burning offers a myriad of benefits including fuels reduction, increased soil water infiltration, native plant stewardship, invasive species management, improvements in wildlife habitat, and soil carbon sequestration.
To join, ask questions, or learn more about Placer PBA and other educational opportunities, please contact Cordi Craig (cordi@placerrcd.org).
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