The following is a press release from the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service:
Mendocino National Forest is hosting a virtual symposium to guide the development of postfire restoration strategies on national forests in California. The symposium will be on Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022.
Speakers from the Forest Service’s Region 5 Ecology Program and Pacific Southwest Research Station will introduce the recently published Postfire Restoration Framework for National Forests in California, which highlights guiding principles for ecosystem-based decision-making. Presenters will also discuss case studies and lessons learned with an audience of land managers working in northern California national forests, Lassen National Park, other interested land management collaborators and external partners.
Increasing frequency and extent of high-severity wildfires pose a significant threat to California’s ecosystems. Multiple recent wildfires, including the 2018 Ranch Fire, the 2020 August Complex Fire and the 2021 Dixie Fire, have burned more than two million acres across federal lands here in northern California. In this context, the Postfire Restoration Framework for National Forests in California provides an approach that is based on the latest available science and can help managers answer questions about where on the landscape recent fires have improved, maintained or degraded ecological conditions and what postfire restoration opportunities exist across these expansive areas.
“I’m excited about post-fire ecosystem management,” said Forest Supervisor Ann Carlson. “When do humans intervene and try to influence restoration and recovery and when do we not? Land managers are faced with a lot of different decision paths. The framework helps us pick a path that is ecologically-based.”
Participants can register for the event online: https://bit.ly/Postfire-Register
The framework is also available online: https://go.usa.gov/xeAjy
