Faced with thousands of acres of dead trees that have contributed to devastating wildfires in the Sierras, the Bureau of Land Management has formed a team to determine how to manage the dead trees to minimize wildfire risk and protect the public. The Mother Lode Field Office is facing one of the largest tree mortality events in recent history. Approximately one third of its land, nearly 60,000 acres, has been affected with conifer mortality.

Cutting down dead trees may not reduce wildfire risk. It may seem logical that all these dead trees would fuel massive conflagrations. Scientists, however, say climate, not dead trees, drives fire risk. That leaves California poised to log millions of standing dead trees without addressing a central -question: Are they actually a fire hazard?

Click on the image for the full flyer. A public workshop on tree mortality in the Sierra Nevada has been scheduled for Wednesday, August 10. The morning session will be held in the Amador County Board of Supervisors Chambers, at 810 Court Street, in Jackson, followed...

Trees are dying in the Sierra at modern-day unprecedented rates, posing elevated fire danger and creating health, water and air quality concerns, but a possible solution to rid the forest of dead and dying trees is getting short shrift, officials say. California’s biomass industry is set up regionally to turn agricultural waste into electricity while eliminating open burning. But many local biomass plants have closed or are closing soon because it costs less to produce electricity with solar and wind, which get subsidies that are not available to biomass.

900 sheep, goats ate plants near Fair Oaks Bridge this week. Since 2014, animals have played fire prevention role in Sacramento County. Roseville has a website allowing people to track its livestock fire prevention activities.