The Sierra Nevada AmeriCorps Partnership Program is one of Sierra Nevada Alliance’s (SNA’s) amazing programs that focuses on the professional and workforce development of students and young professionals via natural resource restoration and environmental education positions. During the last week of April, 33 AmeriCorps members, Sierra Corps Forestry Fellows, and SNA staff gathered in Placer County for their annual Spring Training. Members focused on activities devoted towards team building, workforce development opportunities, and two local service projects.
The first day-long service project located in Auburn, CA was in partnership with the Colfax Todds Valley Consolidated Tribe and Placer Land Trust with a culmination of over 50 people. Individuals were divided into crews of no more than 5 people to tend to a 2 acre portion of a 50 acre shaded fuel break at Taylor Ranch Preserve by removing excess vegetation and creating piles to be burned in the fall. Each crew was blended with individuals from SNA and the tribe’s F.L.I.C.K.E.R. crew that allowed for traditional ecological learning and stewardship of the land. The Fire Leadership for Intertribal Conservation Knowledge-keeping Eco-cultural Revitalization (F.L.I.C.K.E.R.) Crew is made up of Nisenan, Maidu, and Miwok cultural practitioners who revitalize traditional land guardianship through cultural burning, ecological restoration, and intergenerational learning. Overgrown buckbrush bushes were strategically removed from the landscape that were growing too close to one another, as well as dead trees that were felled prior to our arrival. With one sawyer and multiple hands for pile building on each crew, an estimated 50 burn piles were constructed, with each scaled at approximately 6ft by 6ft by 6ft. After lunch, everyone was guided on a 3-mile hike by a Placer Land Trust docent on the property to learn about the landscape, cultural artifacts, future projects, and conservation easements.
The second day-long service project was in partnership with Placer County’s Parks, Trails, and Open Spaces Division at Miner’s Ravine Preserve in Granite Bay, CA. AmeriCorps members were tasked with removing overgrown vegetative snags inside Miner’s Ravine Creek that posed a flood risk to the neighboring communities that bordered the creek. AmeriCorps members were able to learn alongside park staff about the balance between land preservation, watershed restoration, and flood mitigation practices in a highly impacted “natural space” within a built environment. This allows for the protection of the land while simultaneously promoting safety and recreational engagement for the public and neighboring communities. Of the 7.83 acres and 2,400 feet of stream that were worked, approximately 60 cubic yards of debris and waste were pulled from the creek. Additionally, 5% of the dead trees and branches and less than 1% of the live woody vegetation in the area were removed.
SNA’s Spring Training was a success that promoted the collaboration of partners in Placer County and the benefit of the local organizations and communities through valuable service projects. We would like to thank the Rose Foundation for making this training and these projects possible, and we look forward to the development of future partnerships in Placer County.
Quantitative Data
- Placer Land Trust – Taylor Ranch Preserve
- Placer County Parks, Trails & Open Spaces – Miners Ravine
- Area permitted: 7.83 acres and 2,400 feet of stream
- Pulled approximately 60 cubic yards of debris/waste from the creek
- Removed 5% of the dead trees and branches, and less than 1% of live woody vegetation
