Fall - Winter 2000 Conservation Almanac Newsletter, Trinity County Resource Conservation District

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1 Trinity County Resource Conservation District Fall/Winter Issue 2000

that could cause erosion problems in heavy

rains. Unsurfaced roads, driveways, andeven horse trails can accelerate erosionproblems and contribute sediment to our

rivers and streams.

Water generally travels down a road just as

you and I do. Roads actually collect andchannel water, interrupting the natural

(Continued on page 6)

Conservation AlmanacConservation AlmanacConservation AlmanacConservation Almanac Trinity County Resource Conservation District

Fall/Winter 2000 Vol. IX No. 3

Also In This Issue:

Fire Safe Council Planning Plants Out of Place

South Fork CRMP Tour

Weeds Word Search

District Manager’s Corner

We introduced you to the Trinity CountyBackyard Conservation Program in the

summer issue of the Conservation Alma-

nac . In this issue we are featuring thefirst of six conservation topics central to

the theme that Conservation Begins atHome! Cynthia Tarwater, the RCD’s

Implementation Coordinator, discussessome important things to rememberabout roads and sediment. Look for our

next article on the Use of Native Plantsin the Spring 2001 Conservation Alma-

nac . In coming months, we will provide

information on Riparian Habitat Im-provement, Defensible Space for Wild-land Fires, Water Quality Monitoring,

and Water Conservation.

EROSION CONTROL With the recent rains, how many of you

have noticed water running everywhere,in particular down your driveway? Ihave been doing some shovel work to

address this same problem since the fallrains started. Some landowners have just a driveway off of a main road, but

many of us have longer access roads

Road Erosion




munities. They made recom-mendations about pre-fire treat-ments, such as clearing defensi-ble space around residencesand constructing shaded fuelbreaks along roadsides that

could help to protect these val-ues. Finally, they jointly devel-oped a ranking system and pri-oritized recommended projects.Data from these meetings werecaptured and entered into aGeographic Information System(GIS).

The FSC presented the latestversion of these recommenda-

tions at its meeting on Novem-ber 16th. There were approxi-mately 35 people attending froma diverse spectrum, includingthe USFS District Rangers forHayfork and Weaverville, Bu-reau of Land Management’s

Redding Resource Area Man-ager, a member of the TrinityCounty Planning Commission, Trinity County Planning Depart-ment, a member-elect of the Trinity County Board of Super-visors, members of SAFE, theWatershed Research and Train-ing Center (WRTC), Natural Re-

source Conservation Service,Resource Conservation Dis-trict, the President of the Vol-unteer Fire Department ChiefsAssociation, and other resi-dents of the county.

Draft results of the Recom-mendations on Trinity CountyValues at Risk from Fire andPre-Fire Fuels Treatment Op-portunities drawn from Com-munity Meetings 1999/2000 were presented by Dr. YvonneEverett, professor of NaturalResources at Humboldt StateUniversity. The table on the

next page lists the top five project sites identified for each of the five FSC regions of TrinityCounty; 1) Down River, 2) Mid- Trinity, 3) North Lake, 4)South County, and 5) SouthFork.

Conclusions & Next Steps The most frequently recom-mended methods of pre-firetreatment identified throughthis process were general fuelsreduction efforts, followed byshaded fuel break construc-tion and maintenance, andstand and plantation thinning.

Trinity County Fire Safe Council Planning

The Trinity County Fire SafeCouncil (FSC) seeks to improvecooperation and coordinationin all aspects of wildfire man-agement in Trinity County.

Members include governmen-tal agencies, the local Volun-teer Fire Departments, andcitizens. A countywide FireManagement Plan is needed toassist in prioritizing and coor-dinating activities such as pre-fire fuels reduction treatments.

County or regional wildfiremanagement plans often failto involve or even to acknowl-

edge local residents’ knowl-edge and expertise. FSC mem-bers feel strongly that commu-nity input should drive the Trinity County Fire Manage-ment Plan development proc-ess with local and regional ex-pertise. In 1999 with fundingsupport from the USFS PacificSouthwest Research Stationand the State Department of Water Resources, a team from

the FSC began a process tocapture community recom-mendations for this planningeffort.

A series of community meet-ings and public workshops was held at Volunteer Fire De-partment Halls and commu-nity centers across TrinityCounty. Residents were askedto help identify and map fea-

tures relevant to emergencyresponse, including lockedgates, bridges too weak tocarry a fire truck, watersources, and other features.Community members also worked with the team to locateand specify values at risk fromfire in and around their com-

Fire Safe Council Presentation




Recommendations for individuallandowners to treat their own fu-els and for neighborhood groupsto work together to reduce firehazard and emergency responseproblems also were stressed.

The FSC, including the TrinityCounty RCD and the WRTC, will

continue to coordinate system-atic implementation of the projects recommended by the com-munity participants. Further, it will encourage public land man-agement agencies to completethe necessary permitting such asNational Environmental Protec-tion Act (NEPA) EnvironmentalAssessments required beforemany recommended activitiescan be carried out.

The Fire Safe Council hopes thatthese recommendations are use-ful to everyone involved in firemanagement.

• The Trinity County Board of

Supervisors can use the rec-ommendations to ensure thatthe voice of the county is heardin public land manager’s deci-sions about fire management.

• The USFS and BLM can usethe information as they gathercommunity input on fire plan-ning.

• Trinity County Planning De-

partment can use the recom-mendations in updating theSafety Element of the GeneralPlan.

• VFDs can use this plan in the

next phases of county level co-ordination of emergency re-sponse, and to implementrecommendations.

Down River South Fork

• Hennessy Road • Brady Road

• Cedar Flat South • South Fork Mountain Ridge

• Green Mountain/Wilderness • Lucky Jeep Trail-Thompson Peak

• Hawkins Bar • Randolf and Jones Burns

• Trinity Village • Tule Creek Road

North Lake South County

• Coffee Creek Community • G. Stewart Ranch

• Trinity Center • East Side of Ruth Lake

• Coffee Creek Road • Ruth Lake Rd to Wild/Mad

• Covington Mill • Burgess/Zenia Ranchland

• Long Canyon • Lower Van Duzen Rd. Corridor

• Trinity Alps Resort • Stewart Game Management Unit

Mid-Trinity

• Oregon Mountain North to Musser

• East Branch Community Note: Values at risk include schools,

• Musser Hill-East Weaver Creek communities, plantations, resorts,

• Hwy 299-Grass Valley Creek water supply, recreation, fish and

• Timber Ridge BLM wildlife, and old growth forests.

Top Fire Safe Projects by RegionTop Fire Safe Projects by RegionTop Fire Safe Projects by RegionTop Fire Safe Projects by Region




A weed is simply a plant out of place. A plant is considered a weed when it grows in place of desired plants whether that isin your backyard, along thestream running through your

property, on the side of thehighway or in the beautiful wildlands of our county. Sim-ply stated, weeds steal mois-ture, nutrients, and sunlightfrom surrounding desirableplants. Exotics or non-nativespecies are the most trouble-some weeds. An explosion of invasive weeds is overrunningCalifornia. These non-native weeds, such as yellow starthis-

tle, fall under the classificationof noxious weeds. Noxious weeds are weeds that are sodesignated by state law orcounty ordinance, becausethey cause, or can cause, ex-traordinary negative economicand ecological impacts.

The Trinity County Weed Man-agement Cooperative (TCWMCor the Cooperative) was estab-

lished at the end of 1999. TheCooperative includes county,state, and federal agencies,non-profit organizations, andindividuals who are generallyconcerned about the spread of noxious weeds across Califor-nia and throughout TrinityCounty in particular. The or-ganizations of the Cooperativebelieve that we all need to work together to effectivelydeal with the ever-increasingproblem of noxious weeds.Plants do not recognize prop-erty boundaries. The actions,or inactions, of our neighborscan have serious impacts onthe success, or failure, of nox-ious weed management.

In an effort to inform ourneighbors about noxious weedsin Trinity County, future issuesof the Conservation Almanac

will include an article about anoxious weed of concern in Trinity County. The noxious

weeds used in the WEEDS

WORD SEARCH (page 5) were

identified by the Cooperative as

weeds existing in TrinityCounty that pose an economicand/or ecological threat to ourcounty. The TCWMC is cur-rently putting together an edu-cational brochure that will help you identify these weeds on your property and manage weed populations to minimizeimpacts.

We look forward to answeringany weed questions you mighthave and invite anyone who isinterested in noxious weeds to join our meetings. Call the TCRCD for more information.

District Chairman Elected President

Trinity CountyRCD chairman Greg Lowden waselected President of the CaliforniaState Envirothon Steering Com-mittee in September 2000. Low-den served as the Northern Cali-fornia representative to the Steer-ing Committee for 6 years prior tohis election.

The California Envirothon is aprogram designed to be a writtenand hands-on competition of high

school students’ knowledge of California’s natural resources in-cluding soils, forestry, wildlife,aquatics, and a yearly environ-mental topic. Last spring, over155 students from 31 highschools throughout Californiaparticipated in the Envirothoncompetition at Walker Ranch inPetaluma. Hayfork High finished9th place overall. After the state-

wide competition, the winningteam from each state then goes on

to the Canon National Envirothonheld at the end of the summer.

Lowden said he “was honored tohave the opportunity to serve inthis new role,” and hopes that thesteering committee “will be suc-cessful in expanding high schoolparticipation throughout thestate, and in the north state inparticular.”

Steering Committee members in-

clude representatives from Re-source Conservation Districts,California Association of Conser-vation Districts, federal, state andlocal governments, the agriculturecommunity, and the educationfield.

Scotch Broom Infestation

The California Envirothon The California Envirothon The California Envirothon The California Envirothon Plants Out of Place




O M A H C V K M O O R B H C N E R F K D

D E D S P O T T E D K N A P W E E D Q A

A S I M G J P I N D W S D E T O P S Y O

L L F W A R P B A P U E J A M I H R E W

M L F H D L A E Y H I S S Y A L R A L SA I U Q T E M D T D P C A A N E F S L R

T B S K O C P E S C O T C H B R O O M E

I F E J N F A E D S T R L K E S G H I Y

A G K G E A S W Q I S H C L T A V T E D

N E N D L M G H H U F A I A U N D A S P

T F A E T V R T Y T L F R S O B W K O T

O I P A S Z A A A B O J U G T H T L R B

A S W H I M S M N S F M D S C L O A G L

D O E O H E S A C O S K O A H A E M T E

F K E S T D Y L S V F R M L E T E A E C

L T D U L A S K A U P A J P K H N H H KA U A D L J G E I P L S U D E F J A C B

X Q B A U R H W X K A C L B O O R B P A

U L M E B N T R E E O F H E A V E N I R

K I F M I C L S R M B G I R N E V A H R

H Y S E L T S I H T R A T S W O L L E Y

WEEDS WORD SEARCH WEEDS WORD SEARCH WEEDS WORD SEARCH WEEDS WORD SEARCH

How many words can you find in the WEEDS WORD SEARCH?

Look Forwards, Backwards, Up, Down, and Diagonally.

You never know where those nasty weeds may be hiding.

Yellow starthistle Klamathweed

Scotch broom Diffuse knapweed

French broom Spotted knapweed

Dalmatian toad-flax Himalayan blackberry

Tree-of-heaven Pampas grass

Bull thistle Cheatgrass

Medusa-head Dyer’s woad

Dalmatian toad-flax Dyer’s woadKlamathweed Spotted knapweed

Scotch broom




(Continued from page 1)

drainage of water acrossthe landscape. However, this

is not good for the roads orthe streams; water will takefine material like clay and siltfrom the road surfacing, and

soften poor soils. If you payclose attention during storms, you’ll notice the paths thatthe water takes and see areas where you can get the wateroff of the road with a littleshovel work. Obviously, thereis a limit to what you can doby hand, but give it try, be pa-tient, and be creative. You can

make a difference!On longer access roads,rocked, rolling dips should beconstructed by knowledgeableequipment operators. Rollingdips are used where the roadcrosses small, seasonalstreams. The rolling dipforces the stream to stay inthe natural channel, insteadof following the road. Lastly,don’t forget to protect areas with energy dissipators whereexcess water is discharged.Energy dissipators can be as

simple as placing brushy ma-terial or rock at outlet areasto slow the water downenough that it reduces ero-sion.

If you need assistance orguidance for your private roador driveway or other“Backyard” issues, contactthe District, 623-6004.

Four Basic Steps to Minimize Erosion Problems

1. Protect bare soil surfaces. Vegetation is the best protection be-cause it both absorbs and uses water. Mulches, such as straw and

wood chips, are also effective to protect the soil surface. Be sure anystraw is certified weed free or you could end up with an invasive weedproblem.

2. Don’t concentrate water flow unless absolutely necessary. Onundisturbed slopes, water percolates through soil slowly and uni-formly. Even during heavy rainfall, runoff flows evenly over theground into the nearest drainage. When runoff is focused on onespot, such as by a culvert or a rain gutter, the soil surface can not

withstand the force of the water and begins eroding. If you must focusrunoff, protect the outflow area with an energy dissipator, such asrock or securely anchored brush.

3. Limit livestock and human use of vulnerable areas. Livestockand people can exacerbate mild erosion by disturbing vegeta-tion and creating trails that channel flow. Avoid disturbance tofill slopes, creeks that have abrupt changes in gradient, winterswales, unsurfaced roads, old landslides, and any site thatshows signs of recent soil loss.

4. Disturb existing vegetation as little as possible. Plants holdthe soil in place with their roots, regulate the speed of waterflowing through and over the soil, and protect the soil surface,as well as provide cover and food for wildlife. The native plantcommunity is especially well adapted to suit specific soil andrainfall conditions. Once the native plant community is dis-turbed, the soil below becomes more susceptible to erosion.

The South Fork Coordinated Re-source Management Planning (South

Fork CRMP) group hosted a tour of restoration sites on October 17th. Bill

Huber, CRMP Coordinator, organ-

ized the tour to review restoration

projects implemented bythe Trinity County RCD

and the USFS Hayfork

District. The tour high-

lighted stream crossingson two roads that had

been identified as sig-nificant sources of sedi-

ment to area streams.

The 28N10B Road wascompleted by the RCD

under the supervision of Cynthia Tar-

water, Implementation Coordinator.

The work included the removal of several undersized or damaged cul-

verts to reconstruct stream channels

to handle flows from winter rains andreshaping the road to promote a more

natural flow of water. A similar project on Buck Ridge was designed and

undertaken by the USFS on a spur of

28N40 Road. The tour group, includ-

ing Donna Harmon,Hayfork District

Ranger and Bill

Weaver of Pacific

Watershed Associ-ates, an expert in for-

est road design andrepair, evaluated the

completed projectsand provided sugges-

tions on design im-

provements. These roads will be re-visited after the rainy season to help

ongoing efforts to reduce road-related

erosion in the South Fork Trinity River

watershed.

South Fork CRMP Tours Restoration Sites

Review of Restoration Site




of the National Fire Plan. To be suc-

cessful, we will need to continue to

work together – private and public

lands managers; county state and fed-eral agencies; large and small landown-

ers cooperating to make our forestshealthier and safer.

Educating ourselves about conservation

issues is an important tool. This past

fall the RCD has had the opportunity to participate in two excellent educational

projects designed to cast the seeds of

conservation education on the fertileground of our youth. The WeavervilleElementary School 6th Grade classes

returned to Bar 717 Ranch this Septem-

ber. David Newton and Jean Yoho,

their teachers, and several parents puttogether an exciting curriculum that

blended environmental education with

the wonderful outdoors classroom that

the ranch offers. The RCD led studentsthrough morning hikes that taught them

about riparian (streamside) habitats,

bird identification and the diversity of habitats in Trinity County. Hayfork Creek served as our living laboratory

where students learned to measure the

stream’s physical features and survey

for animals that help us understandstream health. Mark Lancaster and

Kenneth Baldwin shared the pleasure

of the forestry unit and Jim Spear, Dis-trict Conservationist with NRCS,

I always am invigorated by autumn. The

golden richness of the oaks and the clus-

ters of bright red berries dangling from

the branches of dogwoods tell me that itis the harvest season. I am reminded of

the old saying, “you can only reap whatyou sow”. I take heart that I have the

good fortune to live in Trinity County,

and that we benefit from the seeds that

we have sown. I have never before livedin a community that has so many dedi-

cated, energetic individuals – so many

people willing to give of their own time

to help each other and to help the Dis-trict reap an annual harvest of resource

conservation. Some excellent examplesare included in this issue of the Conser-

vation Almanac.

Soil erosion has been a core resourceissue for conservation districts for dec-

ades. The work of the South Fork

CRMP to bring together landowners in a

partnership to reduce erosion and im- prove water quality in the South Fork

Trinity River watershed bears fruit every

year. And now, through our Backyard

Conservation Program we hope to ex-

tend our assistance to landownersthroughout the county, as described in

our feature article on page 1.

The Fire Safe Council has brought to-gether landowners, volunteer fire depart-

ments and land management agencies

over the past six months planting the

seeds of a changing attitude towards for-est health and fire management in Trin-

ity County. In this issue you can review

a summary of our progress, which has

been substantial. Trinity County is wellahead of most regions in California, be-

cause we already are developing a fire

management plan (see article on page 2).

The seeds that we have sown shouldhelp us reap financial assistance to im-

plement projects throughout the county.

Congress and the President have allo-

cated millions of dollars for communityassistance programs under the umbrella

taught all about soils.

Anyone who strolled through Lee

Fong Park on October 7th knows

that the second Annual SalmonFestival was packed full of fun and

information. The RCD booth, fea-

turing our Backyard Conservation

program and Riparian Education project had something for every-

one. There was a raffle for bird-

houses, helpful hints for birdfeed-

ers, and brochures ranging fromstreamside care to the use of native

grasses in your landscape. But the

highlight of the booth had to be the

children’s “go fish” activity, if thenumber of repeat visits to the fish-

ing hole is any indicator. Kids of all

ages answered wildlife and habitatquestions for a chance to cast a line

for goodies. A companion booth

set up by the Weaverville Basin

Trail Committee gave visitors achance to learn more about the trail

system from trail volunteers.

As I review this issue of the Con- servation Almanac I want to thank

everyone who has contributed their time and experience to our conser-

vation projects, and I am sure that

all of us will continue to reap the benefits of their efforts.

District Manager’s Corner Pat Frost

Environmental Camp—Bar 717

Kids fishing for treats at the

Salmon Festival

Documents

Fall - Winter 2000 Conservation Almanac Newsletter, Trinity County Resource Conservation District