UCCE Highlights

Fire Field Tours

April of 2014 was a good time to be a wild land fire specialist or concerned rural-northwest local. As part of the California Fire Science Consortium's spring field tour series, organizations including the National Park Service, U.S. Geological Survey, and UC Cooperative Extension hosted a fire science field day in Whiskeytown National Recreation Area.

The tour took 30 participants through a series of three different locations within the NRA while experienced fire managers educated them about the effects of controlled fire regimes in each location. Each location was wildly unique, with a wide spectrum of plant species present depending on how recent fire was used as a treatment.

The tour was not simply to educate, however. It also served as a chance for the community to see first hand the actions local, federal, and state organizations are taking to restore the complex ecosystems within our rural communities. Those of us lucky enough to live in Northern California are blessed with a beautiful and expansive wilderness. It would be a crime to not appreciate that from time to time.