Forestland Steward Newsletter

List of Articles

Spring 2013--Prescribed Fire

• Fire: an important management tool
• Air quality planning for prescribed burns
• Will Harling: Nuts and bolts of implementing prescribed burns
• Vegetation Management Program
• Oak woodlands and fire
• Prescribed fire on the State Forests
• Prescribed Fire Councils and a Consortium
• Stewardship planning for family forests

Winter 2013--State Nursery and Regeneration

• State of the State's nurseries
• California Seed Zone Map
• More on Seed Zones
• Call to landowners: Find the cones
• Short primer on planting trees
• Soquel Demonstration State Forest
• Prepare your Management Plan

Fall 2012--Fire Adapted Communities

• What is a Fire Adapted Community?
• Brushy Creek survives
• Elements of Fire Adapted Communities
• Checklist to protect your home from embers
• Effective defensible space
• Protecting the community
• When wildfire threatens
• Living With wildlife resources
• Assemble an Emergency Supply Kit

Summer 2012--Changing Times

• Emerging Threats
• Managing for a Different Tomorrow
• Water and Fire
• Expect the Unexpected
• Compensation for Ecosystem Services?
• Climate Change Resources
• New Management Ideas

Winter 2012--Management Plans

• Why do a Management Plan?
• The One-Plan Plan
• Find the right RPF
• Forestry Institute for Teachers
• Cost-share programs
• Placer RCD
• Rick Gruen
• WUI webinars
• Burn locally

Fall 2011--Mountain Meadows

• The myriad benefits of mountain meadows
• More than pretty flowers
• Pond and plug at Big Bear Flat Meadow
• Fire returns to Van Vleck Meadow
• Mountain meadows: hotspots of biological diversity
• Courses and funding opportunities for landowners
• Chris Zimny ready for challenges of forestry assistance

Summer 2011--Silviculture

• Silviculture: the science & the art
• Silviculture 101: a quick overview
• Your vision, your plan
• The art of marking the forest
• An example of marking guidelines
• What makes an old coast redwood forest?
• Techniques to restore an old growth forest
• Good news! Cost share funding
• Usal Redwood Forest receives easement award

Spring 2011--Succession Planning

• Forest succession: passing your land to the next generation
• You have options
• Who gets the land?
• Checklist for the future of your land
• Plan a family meeting to share thoughts
• A matter of values
• Attach your children to your land
• Celebrate the 2011 International Year of Forests
• Where to start on succession planning
• What's a webinar?

Winter 2011--Community-based Forestry

• What is a community forest?
• Weaverville Community Forest: successful partnerships create a community forest
• Arcata Community Forest leads the way
• Usal Redwood Forest: A new model
• Burney Creek-Hat Creek Project: A sustainable landscape approach to benefit the local community
• Stewardship contracting to help fund projects
• Advice for starting your own community forest

Fall 2010--Biomass

• What can we do with the excess biomass?
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Biomass Utilization 101
• What can you do with it?
• Site-driven biomass utilization project
• Definitions and Conversions
• Biomass cost share and other grant opportunities
• Benefits of biomass utilization

Summer 2010--Balancing Wildlife Needs with Fuels Management

• Balancing wildlife needs with fuels management
• Top 10 wildlife considerationsfor fuels treatments
• A few thoughts on managing for wildlife
• New dimensions for Sierran fuel treatments
• Snags: so much more than dead trees
• Balance habitat with safety
• Strategies to enhance habitat for birds
• Species Spotlight: All eyes on the fisher
• Some easy ways to enhance wildlife habitat
• Document your forest with a nature journal

Spring 2010—Angora Fire: Lessons learned

• Defensible space: a vital part of fire safety
• Quick fixes…do them now!
• Fuels treatments to emulate benefits of natural fire
• Research to reduce wildland fire impacts
• Tahoe RCD: Backyard conservation assistance
• Susie Kocher: Community liaison
• More homeowner wildfire mitigation ideas
• Where is this home vulnerable to ember attack?

Winter 2010—Tools of the trade

• Widgets, gadgets, and machines
• Old classics and other tools
• New methods lessen environmental impact
• One RPF’s opinion on portable sawmills
• Chainsaws: indispensable but dangerous
• Safety first!
• An interview with Jill Butler, FAS extraordinaire
• Convenience and precision of measuring tools
• Partnership in the Russian River area

Fall 2009—Where is your place in the watershed?

• Many threats and much that can be done
• Keep rivers functioning as they should
• Healthy roads for healthy watersheds
• Heads up…it’s another El Nino year!
• When water is lacking in the watershed
• Goodies for forest landowners in 2008 Farm Bill
• Salmonids are struggling in California
• More about watersheds
• Jane LaBoa: New voice of the Helpline

Summer 2009—Oaks in California

• Rule #1: protect the roots
• Wildlife and oaks need one another
• Grazing animals and oaks
• Firewood cutting need not harm wildlife
• Fire in the oaks: friend and foe
• Oak restoration: stewards to the rescue
• Sudden Oak Death still killing trees
• New oak pest found in San Diego County
• Oak health check
• Pilot will assist landowners develop forest management plans
• Oh my aching back, leg, elbow…

Spring 2009—Creative solutions for challenging times

• Ecosystem services…who pays?
• Nature tourism: potential revenue in your forest
• Ranch for wildlife, reap the rewards
• Looking for ways to use woody biomass
• The language of biomass utilization
• Other tools that might help make ends meet
• Is a conservation easement for you?
• Get ready—fire season coming!

Winter 2009—Noxious weeds

• Invasives: not your everyday garden wood
• Create an Integrated Weed Management Plan
• Weed prevention best management practices
• Attack your weeds like a wildfire
• Know your enemies
• Hazel Jackson leaves her mark on CLFA
• The State of California’s Forests
• The alphabet soup of forestry assistance

Fall 2008—After the fire

• Forest recovery: Regeneration or reforestation
• Protect your soil and water
• Roads need protection too
• Fire in the redwoods: Lessons Learned
• MFRIG helping people help the land
• Post fire restoration DOs and DON’Ts
• The real dirt on hydrophobic soils
• Get all your fire recovery info in one place
• Wildfires and wildlife

Summer 2008—It’s up to you

• Planning for wildfire survival
• Take the Homeowner Wildfire Assessment
• Will a fire engine come to your house?
• Water water everywhere…
• Create a safety zone…just in case
• Stay or leave? Evacuation checklist
• Fire Information Engine Toolkit
• Wildfire recovery

Fall 2007—Taking it to the next level

• Conservation Principles (outline)
• Decisions, decisions
• Make your own CCWPP
• Sierra Nevada Community Conservation and Wildfire Protection Plan Guidebook
• Conservation Principles (details)
• Basic concepts for living with fire in the Sierra
• Create your maps with online mapping tool
• Fire debate continues 100 years later

Spring/Summer 2007—Forests have a role in climate solutions

• A short primer on forests and climate change
• Seeking innovative solutions in California
• FAQs on forest carbon
• CAL FIRE’s nursery does its part to help with reforestation and global warming
• Forest carbon: getting started, keeping up
• Steve Hackett: Forest Steward of the Year

Winter 2007—Forest Management Part IV

• Managing risks: fire, pests, disease, and other undesired challenges
• Fire hazard and fuels treatment
• Rogue’s gallery of pests, diseases, and troubles
• Dead or dying: how can you tell?
• Aspen—more than just a pretty tree
• Forest management under new conditions

Fall 2006—Forest Management Part III

• Managing existing stands of trees
• Using silviculture to meet your forest goals
• Adjustments: intermediate treatments
• Steps to growing a new forest
• If restoration is your goal

Spring 2006—Forest Management Part II

• How does your forest grow?
• A point in time
• The basics: how does a tree grow?
• Soil: treat with care
• Site quality, site index, and site class
• Estimating site index
• Strange goings on under the soil
• PRC 4291
• More on fire safe landscaping

Winter 2006—Forest Management Part I

• Forest management series begins here
• The first step: know your forest
• Measuring your forest
• Tools for the job
• Good recordkeeping a must
• Setting your goals
• Regulations and permits
• More on timber harvest permits
• Tax time and other economic topics
• Some notes on hiring professionals

Fall 2005

• Stewardship courses a hit
• Seasonal Stewardship: Basic winter chores
• A Landowner’s Perspective (Carson letter)
• Create your stewardship plan
• Entrepreneurs in the forest
• Thoughtful principles for your stewardship plan
• The magnificent red fir

Summer 2005

• Construction and design considerations to help protect your home
• Fire safe information can be fun
• Well-functioning wetlands best defense against West Nile virus
• Evacuation: Create a plan and practice
• Plan for your animals
• CE advisors--from the campus to the community
• Make your forestland more hospitable to birds
• Fire safe demonstration gardens

Spring 2005

• Mechanical fuel reduction around the home
• The story of ticks and Lyme disease
• First step: assess your forest stands
• How to fell trees safely
• Who are we? The Forest Stewardship Program

Winter 2005

• Working to reduce the negative effects of roads
• Must-have video for forest roads work
• After planting: what next?
• Practice good hygiene when feeding birds
• State of the forest industry in CA
• Everything you ever wanted to know about timber taxes…and then some
• New conservancy for Sierra Nevada projects

Fall 2004

• Special Report: CDF Fire Academy
• Triage: can this house be saved?
• It’s that time of year: plan to plant
• Chainsaw common sense

Summer 2004

• First steps out of a perilous situation
• Recommendations for reforestation
• Seasonal Stewardship: Quick fixes/pre-fire planning
• Operate your equipment the right way
• The vulnerable parts of your house
• Grow your own: collecting seeds
• Incense-cedar: as lovely as it is useful

Spring 2004

• Post-fire response: assess your situation
• Should you help wildlife after a fire?
• Planning ahead: help before, during, and after fire
• Massive plan to guide coho recovery
• Bark beetles a sign of a stressed forest
• Tax time coming: be prepared
• Stewardship course for forest landowners

Summer 2002

• Encourage wildlife in your forest
• Francis A. Fritz Riddell
• Why is wildlife important to the forest?
• Rodney Dangerfield of the animal kingdom (bats)
• Build boxes for bats and birds
• Solano County RCD support for wildlife restoration
• Good stewards of the range
• Looking for solutions to forest loss

Spring 2002

• Friend and foe: the paradox of fire
  
• Forest Pest Detection report
• Fuel characteristics
• How to burn piles properly
• FAQs about defensible space
• Numerous options for fuels management
• Meet the masticator
• How to select a tree service
• Look to the past to understand the present
• A brief look at coho

Winter 2002

• Maps, photos, and data for all your needs
• Forest incentives
• Bioengineering to control stream bank erosion
• Prune trees for better health and higher value
• Willow family has many uses
• National timber tax website has it all
• Salmonid Stream Habitat Restoration Manual
• Aquatic Restoration Guiding Principles

Fall 2001

• Coast live oak management tips for landowners
• Seasonal Stewardship: Order seeds; planting plans
• It’s cone season at the nursery
• Get ready to winterize your roads
• Getting a handle on broom (part II)
• Burning Issues CD for teachers
• King of the pines/Queen of the Sierras (sugar pine)

Summer 2001

• Weed Management Areas
• Attack your weeds like a wildlife
• Getting a handle on broom
• What is a Registered Professional Forester (RPF)?
• How to choose a competent professional
• Develop an integrated weed management plan
• Steps being taken to isolate Sudden Oak Death

Spring 2001

• Fire safe projects: from chippers to chats
• New voice on the Forest Stewardship Helpline
• Forming your own Fire Safe Council
• Road rights and responsibilities: what every landowner should know
• Bigleaf maple
• Forestry Institute for Teachers

Winter 2001

• California’s Forest Legacy Program expands
• Why the big deal about forests next to streams?
• Some functions of large woody debris
• Red alder: part of the streamside forest
• Landowner’s experience: conservation easement
• Thinning for increased forest health and profit
• Get ready—it’s that time of year again

Fall 2000

• Pest management in perspective
• Let me introduce myself… (Jeff Calvert)
• Oak mortality: Pathogen found, more questions
• Pitch canker continues to be a threat
• CA State Board of Forestry
• New logging regulations
• Tree notes

Summer 2000

• Ranch Fire highlights value of pre-fire planning
• Danger spots around your home
• Fire protection and resource managemen
• Salvage timber harvesting considerations
• Restoring the land after the Pendola Fire
• Fire cycles

Spring 2000

• Doerksens create “best forest in the whole world”
• Landowner objectives and the management plan
• Protect your forest from wildfire
• Silviculture: applied forestry
• Intermediate treatments
• Conservation easement FAQs
• The language of silviculture

Winter 2000

• Hardwoods coming into their own
• Tanoak dieback affecting coast live oaks too
• Seasonal Stewardship: Protect your seedlings
• CA Hardwoods: opportunities, challenges
• Estate Planning: Consider the future of your land
• Choosing an estate planning lawyer
• Minimize wildlife disturbance when cutting firewood

Fall 1999

• What is a healthy watershed?
• How healthy is your stream?
• Stream alterations under Section 1603
• New studies add pieces to the puzzle (Hillslope Monitoring Study and WPRC Report)
• Put unneeded roads to bed

Summer 1999

• Welcome to the I-Zone
• Programs for CA forest landowners
• Battling the kudzu of the west (cape ivy)
• Ecological principles help predict forest changes
• Seasonal Stewardship: Breaking up fuel continuity
• RC&D or RCD: What’s the difference?
• Brush piles can provide vital cover

Spring 1999

• Habitat sweet habitat
• An inside look at the 1996 Fire Plan
• Steps to a firewise home
• Firewise landscaping
• Fire resistant trees and shrubs
• Stewards of the past
• Archaeological rules and the THP
• Hot issues in forest planning
• What is a fire hazard?

Winter 1999

• Funding assists landowners in fire recovery
• Tree harvest in cases of emergency
• Prune correctly for healthy trees
• Storm repair tips
• A primer on income taxes for forestland owners
• Recordkeeping vital to good tax planning
• Estate planning: integral part of good land stewardship
• Exotic pest plants a growing concern

Fall 1998

• Proper road design minimizes stream impacts
• Seasonal Stewardship: An ounce of prevention
• Storm damage safety tips
• Follow these steps for planting success
• Keeping track of TMDLs
• How can you help the fish?
• Five county salmon conservation plan
• A conversation with Gerald Ahlstrom

Summer 1998

• Shingletown community success story
• Seasonal Stewardship: Seven steps to creating a defensible space
• Types of dead fuels
• A brief history of RCDs
• Follow the discussion on salmon listings
• Biomass in California: is it a valuable resource?
• Planting: site preparation and species selection
• Chain saw safety is common-sense

Spring 1998

• Watersheds: should you care?
• New landowner curriculum is ready
• Planting success requires careful planning
• What is the right thing to do on my property?
• Estimating distances
• Beauty and safety are compatible
• A healthy forest needs bugs
• Visit state forests for good management practices

Winter 1998

• Dead and dying trees: part of a healthy forest
  
• California Stewardship Program
• After the storm / Create snags
• Conservation easements on working forestlands
• Develop your Stewardship Plan
• Writing the Plan
• Encourage wildlife on your forestland

Fall 1997

• Landowners can aid in coho recovery
• El Nino expected…prepare for rain
• Quincy Library Group pilot plan to begin
• Pine pitch canker update
• Pine pitch canker Zone of Infestation
• Out on a Limb: Monitoring restoration effectiveness

Summer 1997

• New Year’s flood of 1997
• Out on a limb with the extension forester
• It’s deja vu all over again (fire safety)
• Fire safe in Descanso
• Seasonal Stewardship: fire season is here
• Learn about pine pitch canker disease

Spring 1997

• State Fire Plan tackles complex issues
• Working out the bugs in the Fire Plan
• Prefire planning benefits landowners
• Recognition of Native stewardship

Fall 1996

• New challenges, new directions
• Strategies for ecosystem sustainability
• The blind people and the watershed