Why is this important?

Healthy forests provide quality habitat for a wide range of fish, wildlife, and plant species. They are the source of our clean water, offer abundant recreation opportunities, and provide raw materials for local businesses such as the timber industry.

Much of Tuolumne County is comprised of forested ecosystems, including oak woodlands in the lower elevations up through the pines and the fir at the crest of the Sierra Nevada range. The social and economic health of the county is directly tied to the health of our forests.

A century of fire suppression combined with prolonged drought and associated insect infestation left many forested areas unhealthy and susceptible to wildfire. As the population increases adjacent to and within these forested ecosystems, the threat of wildfire to life and property has become a major public concern.

The local sawmills provide an important source for employment and income, and maintaining forest health. Sawmills assist in reducing the density of overstocked timber stands as do other fuel treatments such as prescribed burning and mechanical brush shredding.

What is the measure?

Vegetation Management by, (1) the number of acres that are treated to reduce hazardous fuels in our forest and woodlands, (2) the wildland fires by number and acres.

How are we doing?

Acres treated in the Stanislaus National Forest increased over each of the last four years. The number of fires between 1 - 99 acres has increased while the number of fires from 100 - 4,999 acres decreased.

Current management meets the agencies’ goals and objectives, addressing changing conditions on the forest to lessen fire spread and intensity.