SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. —  The Sierra Nevada Alliance has received $2.5 million from Cal Fire’s Wood Products and Bioenergy Program to support its Sierra Corps Forestry Fellowship Program.

Cal Fire’s funding will ensure the operation of this essential program for an additional four years, beginning this summer.

Developed in 2019, Sierra Corps aims to produce quality forest health managers in the Sierra Nevada that receive professional mentorship and guidance, creating future forest leaders. Alliance fellows work with host sites to complete forest fuels reduction, prescribed fire, reforestation, and biomass utilization to build healthy and resilient forests in the face of climate change and rampant wildfires.

Sierra Corps is critical to supporting healthy, resilient forests and the people and ecosystems that depend on them. California needs registered professional foresters, more skilled project managers, and other forest community leaders to coordinate project efficiency. The program is the ideal workforce development program to positively impact the pace and scale of forest management in California. We are perfectly positioned to provide this desperately needed forest health project management to combat these challenges.

High-level outcomes for the four-year grant include:

• Hire and train eight fellows per year for four years, significantly increasing the pace and scale of the quality of forest health project management throughout the Sierra
• Develop critical partnerships with organizations and sites located throughout the Sierra to host fellows and build capacity for improved forest-friendly communities
• Contribute to workforce development in rural and under-represented communities throughout the Sierra.

We would like to thank Cal Fire for this generous award,” said an Alliance press release. “We are grateful for the opportunity to meaningfully contribute to the protection of the Sierra Nevada forest health with Cal Fire and are excited to expand the Sierra Corps program. Expansion at this level is only possible with Cal Fire’s current support and the initial funding from Sierra Nevada Conservancy over the past two years.”

If interested in partnering with the Sierra Nevada Alliance to host a fellow, become a fellow, or to collaborate on a forest health project, contact Forestry Program Director Taylor Parker at taylor@sierranevadaalliance.org or call 530-542-4546 ext. 708.