Dear friends and supporters of the YWI,
The recent fires in Butte County and other parts of the state are a wake-up call. Only luck has kept Nevada County from being next, and we need to be doing more to protect our homes, our community, and our watershed.
The YWI has been working for years to make the forests of the San Juan Ridge safer from “catastrophic” wildfires, while improving the resilience of the landscape to drought, bark beetles, and climate change. Our work has only gotten more important as the years go on.
There are huge opportunities right now for making the San Juan Ridge and the rest of the Yuba River watershed more fire safe and climate resilient. Recent state legislation has authorized over $200 million in grants each year until 2024 for forest health and fire prevention projects.
The YWI was lucky to be awarded some of this funding this year for the ‘Inimim Forest, our collaborative project with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. We received a $75,000 planning grant from the Sierra Nevada Conservancy and a $415,000 fire prevention grant from CAL FIRE.
However, these recent successes have not come without their own challenges, and this is where we need your help!
Our grants from these state agencies are “reimbursable,” which means that we have to spend our own money before we can get reimbursed from the state. We need to develop a “working pool” of funding in order to meet our commitments to our funders and do the much-needed work of keeping our local ecosystems resilient and fire safe.
Please consider helping us to do this important work by starting or renewing your YWI membership today!
Renew at www.yubawatershedinstitute.org/membership/ or by sending us a check at P.O. Box 2198, Nevada City, CA 95959.
Your generous support will also help us provide other programs that the community has grown to love, including:
- The annual Yuba Watershed Fungus Foray and Wild Mushroom Exposition, which will be held this year on December 8-9 at the Shady Creek Outdoor School and Event Center.
- Our periodic publication Tree Rings: the Journal of the Yuba Watershed Institute, where we bring you essays, artwork, and poetry on current watershed-related themes.
- Popular educational field programs, volunteer events, and evening workshops.
We are grateful for any support you’ve given in the past and hope that you will be inspired to help the YWI into its next phase by contributing at an increased level. Thank you for your enduring dedication to preserving the biodiversity of the Yuba River watershed and beyond!
Sincerely,
Chris Friedel
Executive Director