El Dorado & Georgetown Divide Resource Conservation Districts

Fire Adapted 50 Phase II fuel reduction work is making progress. Our partners Elderd and AFS are making a difference! #FA50

Our GrizzlyCorps Fellow has been working hard preparing conifer seedling orders for reforestation efforts in CA! Here he is "chilling" with the newly packed seedlings in cold storage, where the temp is set to a cool 35 F. Inside each box are hundreds of baby trees, ready for planting. Curious about our seedling partnership with the USFS? Visit https://eldoradorcd.org/seedling-program/ to learn more.

The Logtown Fuels Reduction Project is over 80% complete! This has been a great partnership with the Logtown Fire Safe Council. The steep slopes and rocky terrain have required the skills of hand crews in addition to heavy equipment. Work should be finished before spring (pending much needed rains)!

Last week was a big one for the RCDs, even with all the rain and snow! Our team met with contractors interested in providing crucial wildfire fuels reductions in Camino, Pollock Pines and Kelsey. El Dorado currently has (2) Requests for Proposals open for Fire Adapted 50 Phase B and Georgetown Divide has (1) RFP open for the Kelsey Fuels Load Reduction Project. This photo is from a future roadside treatment area in Kelsey. Visit https://eldoradorcd.org/ to learn more.

Work is happening fast in Fresh Pond! The day after the pre-construction meeting for Fire Adapted 50 Phase 1A, the RCD team returned onsite to take "before" photos. The contractor had already made such swift progress along the treatment perimeter that we were hard pressed to find a view of just how thick the brush initially was (but don't worry, we got the shot).

Curious what the RCDs are up to? Checkout the updates tab on our website for glimpses into our daily ventures, like this encounter with some muddy paw prints.

While examining treatment areas for Fire Adapted 50, sometimes our team encounters archeological sites. Evidence of gold mining, such as this adit, are prevalent in El Dorado County. These features help tell the stories of the past and are thus protected from heavy machinery and work crews. Fun fact: gold mining is still a major industry in the USA today (most prominently in Nevada), producing nearly $9 billion worth of gold in 2019!

Progress on Phase II of the Fire Adapted 50 fuels reduction project over in Pollock Pines has been looking good! Any day where our team can get outside and work together is a good day. Helps when the weather is nice :)

Well everyone, it is definitely fire season. Fire season is a series of ongoing fires across California. Fire season is characterized by hot, dry winds. The season typically starts in July and ends in November. Just a couple of months left. Stay safe!

Looking for a fun, educational and creative project for the kiddos in your life? The RCD team enjoyed preparing SAGE Map Contest flyers for distribution to local schools. The only thing missing from our workshop was a little sunshine on the picnic table (brrrr!) SAGE stands for Surveyors, Architects, Geologists and Engineers of El Dorado County. The 27th annual contest is open to ALL students in the county grades K-12. Maps are due February 19, 2021.... For more info, visit https://www.sage-edc.org/2021-map-contest/ or email [email protected]

Last week we gave a tour to Valerie Bullard from the Plant Materials Center at the Forest Service Nursery. She will be working to create a conifer seedling guide.

Fuels are anything that can burn in a fire. Grasses, shrubs, trees, dead leaves, and fallen pine needles are all plant materials that are fuels. As this vegetation builds up it can become dangerous because it can lead to catastrophic wild fires.

This is the last video in the Virtual Plant Camp. This video starts to teach the basics of identifying plant families. I hope you have enjoyed watching these educational videos.

Here is the second video for the Virtual Plant Camp. If you have not watched the first one, you can find that video on the RCD facebook page. Have fun learning about parts of the flower. This one is a bit longer but has two activities to break things up.