Effort to reduce the rising risks of catastrophic wildfire
French Meadows, Calif. – With California's fire seasons growing hotter and drier, crews are returning to the high country for the seventh season of work on the French Meadows Forest Restoration Project (Project)-a pioneering public-private effort to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire in the American River watershed, a critical water supply for the region.
The groundbreaking Project Partnership (Partnership) rose from the ashes of the devastating 2014 King Fire in Placer and El Dorado counties. A coalition of diverse resource stewards united almost immediately to prevent more such devastation in the Middle Fork American River watershed. The American River Conservancy (ARC), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Placer County, Placer County Water Agency (PCWA), Sierra Nevada Conservancy (SNC), and University of California Sierra Nevada Resource Institute (SNRI) joined together with United States Forest Service – Tahoe National Forest (USFS) to reduce severe wildfire risk across 28,000 acres and design a treatment plan to reduce risk to important watershed resources surrounding the public water supply reservoir at French Meadows.
8,700 acres to date
To date, about 8,700 acres of public and private land in the French Meadows basin have been treated to restore safer conditions using ecological forestry concepts, which combine strategic thinning and prescribed fire to improve the forest's resiliency to wildfire and drought.
"2024 was one of our most successful years to date," said Kerri Timmer, Regional Forest Health Coordinator with Placer County, who coordinates the public lands stewardship agreement with Tahoe National Forest. "The Partnership is grateful to the US Forest Service for its continued support of this project and the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, CAL FIRE, and all our funding partners for supplying the leadership and resources needed to conduct this important work."
Techniques and project goals
Using techniques such as hand-thinning, mastication, and mechanical thinning, the Partnership is perhaps a season away from accomplishing its total planned mechanical operations of approximately 10,600 treated acres. Completion will depend on field conditions and fire risk this summer. Prescribed fire is being employed as conditions and resources allow. Project goals for 2025 on federal lands also include continued efforts to restore and study healthy meadows and further development of procedures and tools that both assist in maximizing effectiveness for French Meadows as well as serving as resources and templates for subsequent forest health projects.
The American River Conservancy has essentially completed its last season of mechanical treatments on approximately 2,000 acres of privately owned lands within the French Meadows Project area. "We are proud to have been able to achieve major fire-resiliency goals as well as reduce risks to water quality and restore over 170 acres of mountain meadows," said Elena DeLacy, Executive Director of the conservancy.
The success of the French Meadows Project Partnership is a ground-breaking example of what can be accomplished by diverse, committed interests working together to protect critical watershed resources. Investments and work to date need to be sustained by continued dedicated management.
"The likelihood of an extreme fire in our watersheds is growing, and these risks are not going to go away on their own," explains Darin Reintjes, Director of Resource Management for PCWA. "Reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfires to the region's critical water supplies requires an ongoing commitment now and into the future."