Digital Library
Publications in this Digital Library annotated with an asterisk (*) were funded wholly or in part by the Regional Forest and Fire Capacity (RFFC) Program.
Fire Resilience Work
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On March 10th, 23 representatives from The Watershed Center, TCRCD, USFS, CAL FIRE, NRCS, Nor Rel Muk Wintu Nation, Hyampom and Hayfork PBAs, as well as the Hayfork, Hyampom, Douglas City, Lewiston, and Trinity Center VFDs came together to share their most recent beneficial fire updates and coordinate upcoming work in 2026.
Less than a week later, 95 individuals from 21 partner organizations and institutions joined the “RT-130” annual refresher training and a “Basic 32” course served 26 participants.
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In 2024, 25 partners and organizations across the state of California collaborated to share information about community-forward cultural and prescribed burns across California as part of the Community-Based Beneficial Fire Data Project. This project demonstrates the growing momentum of locally led efforts to restore fire to California’s landscapes. In total, 4,921 participants participated in 379 training days, while 7,927 participants supported the implementation of 622 burn days across 4,215 acres. These actions reflect a broad set of objectives—including ecological restoration, fuel reduction, workforce development, and cultural burning.
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In the fall of 2023, we sent a group of artists as “The Fire and Music Project” on a one-year journey to shift our relationship with fire. Over the next six months during five intensive “artist learning immersions,” we traveled throughout Northern California listening to fire’s story, from the legacy of Indigenous stewardship, their loss of fire, and the rise of fire suppression, to fire ecology, modern cultural burning, the grassroots community-led burning movement, and the social fabric of the present moment.
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What is your relationship to fire? Who was the last person in your lineage to hold fire in their hands? What does “good fire” mean to you? These are just some of the questions we asked ourselves and each other as we—chamber musicians, a composer, a poet, and a videographer—immersed ourselves in the world of fire. Audio Recorded & Mixed by Scott Padden. Filmed by Rob Wadleigh. Produced and Edited by Max Savage. Colored by V Tran.
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“In 2006, when WRTC was invited to join the Fire Learning Network, we really didn't have any fire-forward programming. We were working on forest restoration and community fire protection, and we were very much going at it from the angle of mechanical thinning, chainsaws, and heavy equipment. We were missing the reintroduction of fire as a keystone ecological process, as a cost-effective tool to do hazardous fuel reduction - as a tool for restoration and building culture around fire." - Nick Goulette, Executive Co-Director of the Watershed Center
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The Watershed Research and Training Center, FAC Net’s parent organization based in Hayfork, CA, hosted the first Spanish TREX in California, and the 10th overall Spanish TREX, in October 2023.
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YES Magazine: From Farm Workers to Land Healers
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“Both Andrea and I have also worked with Miller Bailey and Erin Banwell (Co-Directors of the Fire Management program at the Watershed Center) before. Their vision for the program at the Watershed Center was expanding and growing and included a focus on workforce development. So, they contacted us – and I guess our vision of fire from different perspectives and also our values of working directly with communities fit well with their goals for the program in California. They saw our passion for fire and working to empower people around fire.” - José Aragüés, Prescribed Fire Training Specialist
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Fire Returned is a series about some of the people working to restore Butte County by bringing intentional fire back to it.
Listen to the Fire Returned Series Listen to Erin Banwell in “Fire is For Everyone”
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The All Hands All Lands team was composed of the Watershed Research and Training Center, Mid Klamath Watershed Council, the Karuk Tribe, and the Siskiyou Prescribed Burn Association. The All Hands All Lands team worked together to develop a shared Regional Project Database of burn opportunities, needs and resources (including personnel, qualifications, and equipment), and training events within the pilot area. This database is a "living document" and will continue to be expanded and updated into the future.
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“One entity cannot do prescribed fire, it really is a cooperative effort with multiple partners, lots of different people coming to help: volunteer fire departments, the U.S. Forest Service, nonprofits, community members coming together to get burns done.” - Erin Banwell, Co-Director of Fire Management
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“Community fire adaption is not relegated to one sector of society. It’s not just the fire department’s responsibility to help our communities live more safely in wildfire. We need to bring together all of the different institutions and community stakeholders that have a role and a responsibility together to cooperate and leverage their work.” - Nick Goulette, Executive Co-Director of the Watershed Center
Forest Health Work
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This past field season, the Watershed Center initiated treatments to create a roadside fuel break along Pelletreau Ridge Road associated with the Southern Trinity Fire Resiliency Project, funded by CAL FIRE’s Forest Health Program.
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The Watershed Center Fuels Crews took advantage of a dry spell in November 2024 to finish up fuel break maintenance that began in 2020 on the Six Rivers National Forest. Mad Ridge, which boasts a 29-mile legacy fuel break, has functioned as a strategic feature for wildfire suppression between the communities of Mad River and Van Duzen for many years.
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“Watch the cones,” Randi Paris, Forestry and Fuels Program Director, instructed her leads. “We need to gather them before they open.” In late August, the sugar pinecones, dangling from the tips of the branches like ornaments decorating the forest, were just right to harvest.
The Forestry crew, along with partners Mountain Tree Care, LLC from Medford, OR scaled the trees with climbing ropes and shook the cones loose from their branches. All told, 550 burlap sacks were filled with cones, placed in a large warehouse owned by the Evans brothers in Hayfork, and meticulously turned over twice per day by both the Botany and Forestry crews to ensure the cones dried evenly.
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The Watershed Center, founded in 1993 to retrain displaced loggers and mill workers, envisioned fuels management as an important employment opportunity within Trinity County’s forests. Who better to wield chainsaws in the woods in an expert manner than former loggers? Thus, the Fuels Program was an early and core component of the organization.
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A San Francisco nonprofit has purchased 11,000 acres of land at the headwaters of the Trinity River from a timber company, aimed at protecting the source of the massive Trinity Reservoir. The Pacific Forest Trust spent $15.5 million on the checkerboard of properties before transferring their ownership to a local nonprofit, the Watershed Research and Training Center.
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The Watershed Research and Training Center (WRTC) has recently been awarded nearly $7 million by the CAL FIRE Forest Health program to implement the Southern Trinity Fire Resilience Project (Project).
The Project is designed to restore forest health, protect watersheds and communities, promote long-term storage of carbon in trees and forest soil, and minimize the loss of forest carbon by increasing forest wildfire resilience. The Project builds on over a decade of work and seeks to increase the geographic scope, pace, scale, and overall impact of WRTC’s forest management and fuel reduction efforts throughout Trinity County.
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Hayfork, California. Once, this was a logging town. Today the old-growth giant trees are gone, but new generations of conifers grow thick, stretching out across hillsides in every direction. And every year, swaths of Trinity County go up in flames.
Organizational Capacity Building and Workforce Development
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In partnership with the Sierra Business Council (SBC), the Watershed Research and Training Center (WRTC), via the Regional Forest and Fire Capacity program, has identified seven recommendations for the California Wildfire and Forest Resilience Taskforce to support employees throughout their careers. These recommendations were shaped by 65 subject matter experts and focus on increasing employee retention, job satisfaction, and the quality and quantity of work implemented.
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WRTC is working to increase (and retain) the diversity within the wildfire-resilience workforce. The Watershed Center utilizes a trauma-informed, hands-on approach, which is designed to appeal to all students, including those who have complex life histories and/or have been underserved by traditional education systems.
Tailored Workforce Investments: Highlights from the 2024 Training with Civicorps
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WRTC concluded three and a half weeks of training with the Urban Conservation Corps of Inland Empire (UCCIE). Overall, ten courses were offered–four NWCG courses, four FEMA courses, and two proprietary courses developed by WRTC. “Purpose Boards” - a new addition to the Watershed Center’s proprietary curriculum - were introduced at this training. The boards gave students an opportunity to focus in on their personal career goals.
Highlights from the Urban Conservation Corps of Inland Empire 2024 Training
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“In 2006, when WRTC was invited to join the Fire Learning Network, we really didn't have any fire-forward programming. We were working on forest restoration and community fire protection, and we were very much going at it from the angle of mechanical thinning, chainsaws, and heavy equipment. We were missing the reintroduction of fire as a keystone ecological process, as a cost-effective tool to do hazardous fuel reduction - as a tool for restoration and building culture around fire." - Nick Goulette, Executive Co-Director of the Watershed Center
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The Watershed Research and Training Center recently concluded three and a half weeks of training with Los Angeles Conservation Corps and Conservation Corps of Long Beach. Overall, 8 courses were offered–four NWCG courses, 2 FEMA courses, and 2 courses developed in-house by WRTC. Participant feedback indicates that the trainings dramatically increased knowledge, confidence, and interest in wildfire resilience careers among local conservation corpsmembers.
Recent RFFC Training Boosts Confidence Among Early Career Practitioners
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Highlights from participant surveys after 3.5 weeks of training:
“I feel more confident in my ability to advance my career as a result of this training.” 88% Agree, 12% Neutral
“I felt comfortable and welcome to challenge ideas, opinions, or information presented by the instructors or guest speakers.” 82% Agree, 18% Neutral
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Across the country, fire-prone communities are recognizing the need to address wildfire resilience, but awareness is just the first step. Local action is key for changing fire outcomes, and local leaders need support with strategy development to facilitate that action. The Better Fire Futures Project helps communities determine where to begin, and how to take the “next right steps.”
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This year marks the Watershed Research and Training Center’s third year supporting the Butte County Cal-TREX event. The Butte County Cal-TREX Incident Management Team (IMT) is made up of 18 different local partner organizations with 40 individuals, including liaisons, leaders, coaches, trainers and organizers. Over the last three years, this alliance of diverse backgrounds, experiences, skills, visions and passionate fire practitioners have accomplished an equally diverse array of goals and objectives.
Multi-Year Capacity Investments Produce Capacity “Dividends” in Butte County
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“Through Cal-TREX (Prescribed Fire Training Exchange) programs I’ve been a part of these past few years, we’ve been able to empower 60-100 people each year to burn. This may mean teaching beginners the basics of operating a pump, training more experienced firelighters in how to lead a group of five, or demonstrating to our most experienced practitioners how to write a burn plan. People from all levels, including instructors and event coordinators, are learning something.” - Logan Krahenbuhl
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The flexibility of the RFFC funding has allowed the Watershed Center and the Butte County RCD to focus on investing in people, with a focus on local prescribed fire capacity building. This funding is a unique and invaluable example of what empowered funding focused on the right factors with reduced barriers can provide to a local area.
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Up to $760,000 in awards available to enable underrepresented communities access to wildfire resilience trainings and mentorship opportunities.
“When I think of firefighters, I think of people who have money and guidance from other family members who have been in the fire service, and I didn’t have that. I’ve been homeless, but being here, it definitely showed me it’s not what I thought, and it built my confidence up to actually think about a career in fire.” -Pilot training participant
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With funding support from the California Department of Conservation’s Regional Forest and Fire Capacity Program, the Watershed Research and Training Center awarded a total of over $1,000,000 to nine Prescribed Burn Associations (PBAs) across California to build local capacity for community-based prescribed fire.
“We hope that the subawards not only continue to build long-term, sustainable, community-based prescribed fire workforce capacity, but also help to strengthen and diversify the skillsets and experiences of PBAs throughout California," said Erin Banwell, Co-Director of Fire Management at the Watershed Research and Training Center.
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The Intertribal Indigenous Stewardship Project has been awarded a total of almost $100,000 to eight tribes and Indigenous-led projects across California in support of cultural burning.
Eight tribes, Indigenous-led organizations, and traditional cultural practitioners were funded based on their potential to strengthen Indigenous leadership, collaborations, learning exchanges and to increase access and capacity to conduct cultural burning.
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The state of California is increasingly investing in wildfire management initiatives and programs related to the management of natural lands. These efforts, which span several agencies and departments, have a diversity of complementary purposes including: reducing wildfire risks and hazards to communities, enhancing the resilience of natural systems and working lands, sequestering carbon and mitigating climate change impacts, enhancing and protecting wildlife habitat and watershed resilience.
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In the context of land-use and natural resource planning, the term “regional” often alludes to multi-watershed, multi-jurisdictional scales. There are two primary concurrent multi-stakeholder regional forest and fire planning efforts occurring in California: those led by the Regional Forest and Fire Capacity (RFFC) grantees and those being explored by the Forest Management Task Force Regional Prioritization Groups. The primary purpose of each is to identify and prioritize projects aimed at reducing hazardous fuels to enhance landscape and community resilience to wildland fire.
Recreation Updates
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“What do you even do out there on your wilderness patrols?”
My answer always emphasizes the customer service element, providing weather, trail, and wildfire information as a preventative search and rescue measure, and assistance to recreators when needed–everything from medical intervention to help with bear hangs or stream crossings.
It’s serious and beautiful business being out in the backcountry, responsible for the safety of all within hiking distance. And I wouldn’t miss a patrol for anything in the world.
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The Watershed Center’s recreation division has been cranking out new trail construction and maintenance across Trinity County–improving access in the Weaver Basin and Hayfork Valley in the far northwestern corner of the state. Click more to learn about the best trail system you’ve never heard of!
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This season proved another successful year for the Hayfork and Weaverville Youth Conservation Crews at the Watershed Research and Training Center! The Hayfork YCC tended the trails of the Yolla-Bolly Wilderness and logged out the South Fork River Trail. The Weaverville YCC brushed Stoddard Lake Trail and started building the LaGrange extension. In addition to completing key trail maintenance, both WRTC youth crews learned about many disciplines this season and gained valuable skills such as First Aid and CPR, and knowledge regarding benthic macroinvertebrates and watershed health, western pond turtle surveys, vernal pool and wet meadow protections, botanical and soil preservation, prescribed fire use, noxious weed management, and reforestation techniques.
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By all accounts, the 2024 Northern California Singletrack Summit was a great success! The Watershed Center hosted 73 participants from 20 organizations and led a Dry-Stack Masonry Workshop, held a Taps for Trails fundraiser, facilitated presentations from nine organizations, and led downhill and cross-country bike rides. A great deal of fun and learning occurred and hopes are high that economic development in the region will flourish.
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The Sweepstakes Trail is the newest addition and is located in the Weaver Basin Trail System. The Alliance calls it a "must ride if you are in the area. More segments are still being added to this already insanely fun and long downhill."
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For the past 15 years, the Watershed Research and Training Center’s Youth Conservation Crew (YCC) has been working with the Forest Service to restore and maintain trails in the Yolla-Bolly and Chanchelulla Wildernesses as well as a portion of the South Fork National Recreation Trail. In addition to maintaining the 18-mile South Fork National Recreation Trail along the beautiful South Fork Trinity River, crews have continued working to improve access to the main trail from the Smokey Creek Trail, Rough Gulch Rough, Snow Gap Trail, St. Jaques Trail and Dog Gulch Trail. Funding for these YCC projects was in part from a California Off-Highway Vehicle Restoration grant.
Watershed Stewardship Work
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The 2025 fisheries year revealed a significant spike in observed redds (salmon egg nests) in Hyampom Valley, some optimistic fish counts in five major tributaries of Trinity River, the beginning of our collaborative remote site incubator project, and a ton of exciting learning opportunities about the salmon lifecycle for 5th and 6th graders throughout the county.
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Learn about our much-anticipated Stage 0 Meadow Restoration in Corral Gulch.
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In 2024, Watershed Center fisheries staff conducted a number of surveys counting: 104 live salmon, 4 dead salmon, and 61 redds. The South Fork Trinity River spring Chinook population has reached historic lows and fall run Chinook numbers are also dwindling.
From runs in the 1800s so large people could walk across the river on the backs of these fish, to current populations where we are observing tens, or at best, hundreds of individual fish, we are struggling to regain this critical species. Instream habitat restoration remains one of our best tools to help increase salmon populations. By making conditions favorable for fish, more will grow large enough to survive in the ocean and return to spawn, starting the cycle anew.
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The Watershed Center’s Cannabis Restoration Initiative, which has operated for just two years, has completed a truly staggering amount of work in that timeframe.
The Cannabis Restoration team has hosted multiple clean up days in Post Mountain/Trinity Pines. These volunteer events were augmented by work with contractors we paid to haul away large items, like abandoned cars, RVs, and travel trailers. To date, these efforts have removed a whopping 33 TONS of refuse (66,000 pounds) from public lands in the area.
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“The Pacific Forest Trust and the Watershed Research and Training Center are teaming up to acquire the Trinity Headwaters from Acer Klamath Forest, LLC, a major forest owner in the region. This partnership will ensure the property’s permanent protection under a Working Forest Conservation Easement held by PFT that will guide careful management by the WRTC for watershed benefits, biodiversity, more climate resilient forests, and lasting connections with public lands.”
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We’re happy to report that our snorkel surveys in South Fork Trinity River and Hayfork Creek have been safe and successful.
These aquatic efforts--which have been ongoing for 15 years--are made possible with extensive partnership, particularly with the Trinity County Resource Conservation District, Bureau of Reclamation, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Hoopa Tribe, U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Forest Service, the Yurok Tribe, numerous volunteers, and the landowners who grant us permission to access the waterways from their property. The fish population data we collect help guide our restoration techniques and inspire future projects.
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“We’re trying to help restore balance to the river, with help from the Watershed Research and Training Center, the U.S. Forest Service, and local landowners. We’re adding a natural element and letting nature take its course.” - Aaron Martin, Habitat Restoration Biologist for the Yurok Indian Tribe