VISIONING OUR FUTURE FOREST: Restoration Processes
Ecological thinning
Led by FOREST⇌FIRE Co-Creator Michael Llewellyn, we begin the process of visioning a Future Forest that is resilient to catastrophic fire and a warming atmosphere by learning about restoration processes.
Why are our forests currently vulnerable? What does a resilient forest actually look like? What processes will help the forest become resilient? Why are some trees being removed? Why save some trees but not others? Do tractors harm forest soils? How will a resilient forest affect watersheds?
Helping us to learn and talk about these processes are two U.S. Forest Service scientists actively involved in restration projects on the Tahoe National Forest
Eric Vane, MS, Silviculturist and Vegetation Management Officer, USDA Forest Service, Tahoe National Forest, Truckee Ranger District
Eric was raised in Michigan where he grew up fishing, camping, and hiking. He graduated from Beloit College with a degree in anthropology and later went on to get his master’s degree in forestry from Northern Arizona University where he did his research on the impact of insect outbreaks on wildfire severity in high elevation forests. Eric has been working permanently in vegetation management for the Forest Service for 7 years including positions on the Stanislaus, Inyo, and Tahoe National Forests. In addition, he worked in Idaho, Montana, and Arizona as a seasonal employee in timber, wildlife, trails, and archaeology. Besides working in the woods he also spends most of his free time outside: rock climbing, trail running, ski touring, and backpacking. Eric has been on the Truckee Ranger District since June of 2020.
Rachel Hutchinson, MS, District Ranger (Acting), USDA Forest Service, Tahoe National Forest, Sierraville Ranger District
Ms. Hutchinson has an MS in Water Resources from the University of Idaho and a BS in Environmental Resource Science from UC Davis. Her career has focused on promoting process-based restoration strategies and quantifying the impacts of river and meadow restoration projects through scientific data collection. After working as a researcher who focused on the interplay between plant succession, invasive species dynamics, and hydrology for river and meadow restoration projects at UC Davis and University of Idaho for nearly a decade, Ms. Hutchinson became the Science Director at a watershed focused non-profit organization, The South Yuba River Citizens League. Over a period of 8 years, she led large- and small-scale river, meadow, and forest restoration and research projects in the Yuba watershed. Today, Ms. Hutchinson works primarily in the headwaters of the Truckee, Yuba, Feather, and American rivers focused on stream, meadow, and forest restoration on the Tahoe National Forest.