It all began when stewardship coordinator Olivia Freitas met Richard Carvalho, executive director of The Healthy Forest Alliance, at her very first Solano Prescribed Burn Association meeting. Fast forward to November of this year, Solano Land Trust partnered with The Healthy Forest Alliance to host a chainsaw class at Wilcox Ranch. The Healthy Forest Alliance promotes the safe use of prescribed fire through training, education, public outreach, working directly with homeowners to maintain defensible space, and hosting prescribed burns throughout the state.
Solano Land Trust and The Healthy Forest Alliance hosted S-112 Wildland Chainsaw, which is an entry-level chainsaw operator course. There was a classroom day at Rush Ranch where participants learned terminology, safety, and chainsaw maintenance. Then students spent two days in the field at Wilcox Ranch working on an extremely overgrown eucalyptus grove, which has desperately needed tree work for a long time.
The class was comprised of 12 students, and a current estimate is that the group cut down a total of eighty-eight trees. Based on the size of the trees, we estimate six figures worth of tree work was completed, and people learned a thing or two also!
Moving forward, this new partnership will burn piles over the next few months to complete the cleanup process, setting the stage for an eventual planting of oaks and buckeyes in an area free of eucalyptus debris. The partnership's goal is to maintain the grove and leave the healthy eucalyptus trees as countless species of birds nest in this area.
