New Year, New Motivation

This New Year marks the beginning of new motivation for Plumas County. The Feather River Stewardship Coalition is having its next meeting this Wednesday the 6th from 3 to 5 PM at the Quincy Library, and it will be a good one to attend. We have dialed in our charter and our next step is to begin the development of a large scale restoration plan, prioritizing landscapes and working to accomplish our goal of active management in the Feather River watershed. The Sierra Nevada Conservancy will be attending via conference call to provide input on projects and strategies they can consider for financial support. We hope to see your participation for several reasons.  First, we would like to treat lands adjacent to public lands in a strategic manner to increase the efficacy of ecosystem restoration, so we want to see your input on project ideas and see where they could fit in to our plan.  Second, we don’t want to duplicate other local efforts in large scale land management planning, and we want your input on how to help our efforts compliment rather than repeat others. Lastly, the FRSC is a small and motivated group, but we need more diversity in our membership in order to be a more effective collaborative group.  There is so much to be offered by being a part of such a group, funding opportunities for projects, and pooled resources come to mind to name a few reasons to join.

In September of 2015, the FRSC in partnership with the Plumas County Fire Safe Council submitted a grant proposal to SNC for fuels reduction treatments around two municipal water sources in Plumas County, Lake Davis and Round Valley Reservoir in Greenville.  On December 18th, the group met with SNC representatives to tour project areas, which turned out to be a huge success.  The official word on our grant application isn’t out yet, but we were highly encouraged to apply to SNC for future funding on other projects. This example is just the beginning of what the Coalition hopes to achieve. The FRSC is evolving to be an action based group and we welcome participation from any interested agencies, organizations, and individuals.

Another opportunity available through the Coalition is a grant writing workshop provided by the Sierra Nevada Conservancy. The FRSC in partnership with the Sierra Valley RCD is looking to host this event at minimal cost, and we need a head count of people interested in attending. If you are interested, please contact Rachael Norton, rachael@plumascorporation.org.