Goals & Needs

 

American Forests, the nation’s oldest conservation organization, developed the California Reforestation Pipeline Partnership (RPP), to address the findings of the Governor’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force Reforestation Working Group that the state does not have enough seed to meet California’s ~1.5-million-acre reforestation opportunity. Within the RPP, the California Cone Corps has been developed as a workforce pathway to increase capacity along the reforestation pipeline including cone monitoring and nursery management. 

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The Tsemeta Forest Nursery, owned and operated by the Hoopa Valley Tribe, is working to increase seed collection and seedling production for reforestation efforts on Tribal Lands, National Park Lands, and National Forests. Additionally, they support the Hoopa Valley community through education on tree growing and planting and the importance of doing so for future generations. Together, American Forests and Tsemeta Forest Nursery are hopeful that a GrizzlyCorps Fellow will support efforts in addressing the seed bank shortages holistically, considering impacts on community members, watersheds, airsheds, and fire-sheds in their work. All aspects of the cone’s lifecycle, including processing it to become a seedling, in which the Tsemeta Forest Nursery plays an important role, will be critical for this GrizzlyCorps fellow to understand and share. In order to do so they will:

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• Support the nursery staff in cone monitoring, processing, and seedling development. Their foundational understanding of the seed bank gaps, the nursery’s processes, and the life cycle of a cone is critical to their ability to fully understand a seed’s life and raise awareness in a meaningful and holistic way. 

• Engage in education and outreach within the Hoopa Valley community. The Fellow will build upon existing public educational programming at the Tsemeta Forest Nursery and expand local awareness of cone monitoring, collection, and processing by creating educational materials that might take on many forms (e.g. Public service announcements, informational signage, local media outreach, visits to local classrooms, etc.). They will include ways in which community members can be involved in monitoring efforts. This outreach is vital for collective action around the current seed shortage and ultimately increasing seed availability. 

• Increase awareness of the importance of forests to community resources. Such resources include environmental aspects such as the role of forests on our watersheds, clean air, and jobs. The fellow will provide insights and encouragement for people to interest people in the growing professional reforestation field and viable work pathways within it.

This work will aim to increase cone collections in the Hoopa Valley to increase seed stock for future seedling growth. This work is critical to California’s forest and fire resilience, and to the local forested watershed of the Hoopa Valley where several fires in recent years have caused mass tree mortality and an attributable loss of genetic material and reproductive capacities of the forest. This work is critically important to the localized efforts to adapt to climatic changes and their effects on Hoopa Valley Tribal lands and surrounding ecosystems. 
 

 

Capacity Building Projects

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Project 1: Nursery Management Plan - Reforestation and Cone Monitoring Outreach and Education

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The GrizzlyCorps fellow will serve American Forests and the Tsemeta Forest Nursery through this project. They will design outreach and education methods for the Hoppa Valley community to further understand the importance of reforestation and careers within the field, as well as the state's seed shortage, and ways in which they can support monitoring cone crops. In order to do so, they will build on existing educational resources at the nursery, with support from Tsemeta Forest Nursery staff. They will also support nursery management to ensure the fellow understands cone monitoring, processing and management, seedling growth, and reforestation wholistically. The fellow will create presentations, flyers, and/or social media posts to reach the community. The current need for seed and the cone cycle is not well known. Increasing awareness around this and job opportunities within this growing field is critical to increasing reforestation in California and avoiding full-type landscape conversion. The outcomes will include the presentations, flyers, and campaigns created. The fellow should also track the number of people they reach through their efforts. 

Project 2: Nursery Management Plan - Cone Collection 

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Through this project, the fellow will support in determining the seed need for the Tsemeta Forest Nursery. This will help them outline a plan for future cone collection efforts. This will help nursery staff know where to complete outreach or monitor in the years following the GrizzlyCorps' position. Their own monitoring experience within the role and guidance from American Forests and Tsemeta Forest Nursery will help guide their plan. The plan will be shared with Tsemeta Forest Nursery and American Forests. 

 

Organizational & Community Highlights

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American Forests is a national nonprofit that aims to create healthy and resilient forests, from cities to large natural landscapes, that deliver essential benefits for climate, people, water, and wildlife. American Forests is focused on climate-smart reforestation and works to ensure the organization supports an inclusive environment; the employees of American Forests primarily work remotely and support place-based partners. Tsemeta Forest Nursery is in the Hoopa Valley of California and has been owned and operated by the Hoopa Valley Tribe since 1987. The Hoopa Valley is an area of undeniable beauty, it is a small community and a great place to work and learn about reforestation. The area is surrounded by forestland with much potential for cone collection. Together, Tsemeta Forest Nursery and American Forests are working to address California’s reforestation needs and increase awareness around the state seed need. This unique project focused on nursery management and cone monitoring will support future forest resilience. Forests are critical to nature-based climate change solutions and this project will directly support that solution. This position is within the growing field of reforestation and will set the fellow up for future success in the field. 

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