This field workshop is an opportunity to learn about forest health management at CALFIRE’s Jackson Demonstration State Forest (JDSF). Participants will increase their understanding of how using different management options and tools can affect forest health in a wildland urban intermix (WUI) with examples from multiple sites in the Forest.

Jason Serna, Timber Sale Program Manager at JDSF, will provide an introduction to the Forest and discuss the treatments used for fire safety and overall forest health. At the first site, Tori Norville, Fire Science Advisor for UCCE, will cover the research-related aspects of forest health at JDSF. Micheal Jones, Forestry Advisor for UCCE, will highlight the role of active stewardship, particularly controlled burning, in restoring pygmy habitats. He will also speak to how disturbance-dependent ecosystems require intervention. Teresa Sholars, a pygmy forest ecology expert, will offer insights into the unique forest ecosystem at the site and its historical relationship with fire. Kyle Farmer will focus on fire concerns and fuels management strategies tailored to that environment. At the second site, logged in 2015 under a Timber Harvest Plan, Jason Serna and Julie Rhoads, Vegetation Management Program Forester at CALFIRE, will discuss the site history and the considerations taken due to its proximity to residential properties. Fey Egan, a Research and Demonstration Forester at JDSF, will discuss past interventions including manual treatment, mechanical treatment, and prescribed burning. Lastly, Clarice Sargenti, Air Quality Technician for Mendocino Air Quality Management District, will address air quality management for prescribed burns, emphasizing the importance of protecting both environmental and human health.

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