​Wildfire Resilience Week
Empowering Communities to Take Preventative Action
In partnership with Mono and Inyo counties, Whitebark Institute will be hosting a week-long series of events across the Eastern Sierra to help cultivate wildfire resilient communities using effective wildfire risk-reduction strategies. Our goal is to equip residents with realistic and actionable steps to protect themselves and their homes from wildfires, while at the same time, fostering collective action within the community and region. Through this process, Eastern Sierra residents and guests can gain a deeper understanding of how our built and natural environments can thrive alongside wildfire. It is our responsibility to practice good stewardship of local landscapes, prevent accidental ignitions, and prepare our homes from the threat of wildfire.
The events during Wildfire Resilience Week offer a diverse range of opportunities for engagement and education, both in person and online. From informative discussions to hands-on demonstrations, there is something for everyone interested in learning the most effective and pragmatic ways to safeguard local communities against the threat of wildfires. Residents, visitors, community members, and local leadership are encouraged to participate in as many events as possible to gain a comprehensive understanding of wildfire resilience strategies and to connect with fellow residents and experts in the field.
GUEST SPEAKERS
Yana Valachovic
is the County Director / Forest Advisor for the University of California Cooperative Extension in Humboldt and Del Norte Counties. She is a registered professional forester and forest scientist whose skills and interests cover a broad set of natural resource fields. She is currently the co-lead of the Northern California region of the California Fire Science Consortium and is a founding steering committee member of the Northern California Prescribed Fire Council. She is best known for her work in wildfire mitigation and resilience, however, her research has also covered the ecology of conifer and oak ecosystems, management of forest pathogens, the effects of forest management on redwood lumber durability, the water demands of forest densification, impacts of code changes on wildfire building performance, and the sociological aspects of cannabis production.
Beth Burnam
is CalFire’s Regional Firewise Coordinator for Mono and Inyo counties in the Eastern Sierra and is considered a pioneer in organizing communities to be wildfire prepared. On a volunteer basis, she has founded, managed, and consulted with many wildfire nonprofit organizations, community groups, businesses, and residents. Additionally, she serves on the Board of Directors of the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains, TreePeople, and TreePeople Land Trust. Beth was a founding member and co-President of the North Topanga Canyon Fire Safe Council where she wrote and managed grants. She also lead Topanga residents through the process of becoming an extraordinarily large Firewise Community. She looks forward to using her experience to mentor communities in the Easter Sierra through the process of becoming wildfire prepared and obtaining their Firewise designation.
Marc Meyer
is an ecologist with the U.S. Forest Service Pacific Southwest Regional Ecology Program and serves the Inyo, Sequoia, and Sierra National Forests. His work focuses on integrating science information into land management planning and ecological restoration projects in the southern Sierra Nevada of California. The Southern Sierra Province Ecology Program is part of the Region 5 Ecology Program and serves the Inyo, Sequoia, and Sierra National Forests and Giant Sequoia National Monument. The province is topographically and ecologically diverse, spanning from high elevation alpine and subalpine environments to foothill woodlands on the west slope and arid shrublands and woodlands on the eastern escarpment and Basin and Range. The Southern Sierra Province contains many unique vegetation types including giant sequoia groves, extensive east-side Jeffrey pine forests, and high-elevation bristlecone pine and foxtail pine woodlands. Much of the province occurs in wilderness areas where fires are often managed as a natural ecological process.
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These workshops are hosted by the Whitebark Institute in partnership with Inyo and Mono County. Funding for this project was provided in part by a grant from Edison International as well as the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection as part of the California Climate Investments Program, through the California Fire Safe Council. Special recognition is given to the workshops’ contributors representing UC Cooperative Extension, Firewise USA, CalFire, Inyo National Forest, Lone Pine Paiute Shoshone Tribe, Bishop Paiute Tribe, Bureau of Land Management, Mustang Mesa CSD, Swall Meadows Firewise, Wheeler Crest Fire Safe Council (FSC), Mammoth Lakes Chamber of Commerce, Mountain Rambler Brewery, Mammoth Lakes Brewing Company, Long Valley Fire Department, Bridgeport Fire Department, High Sierra Energy Foundation, and Mono County Libraries.
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‘Community Wildfire Preparedness Project’ and ‘Wildfire Prevention in the Eastern Sierra: Visitor Education and Outreach’ is part of California Climate Investments, a statewide program that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing GHG emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment– particularly in disadvantaged communities. The Cap-and-Trade program also creates a financial incentive for industries to invest in clean technologies and develop innovative ways to reduce pollution. California Climate Investments projects include affordable housing, renewable energy, public transportation, zero-emission vehicles, environmental restoration, more sustainable agriculture, recycling, and much more. At least 35 percent of these investments are located within and benefiting residents of disadvantaged communities, low-income communities, and low-income households across California. For more information, visit the California Climate Investment website at: www.caclimateinvestments.ca.gov
THANK YOU
