Curtis E. Alling, AICP’s Post

MANY SOLUTIONS IN ONE Recreating seaside marshlands channels floodwaters, adds wildlife habitat, sequesters carbon and more. https://lnkd.in/gcn-BZ8y

We’re proud of the work we do to care for and manage our watershed lands and downstream habitats, which is an essential duty that comes with providing water supply for more than 190,000 people in southern and central Marin. We recently reached a significant milestone for one of these key stewardship efforts, the Lagunitas Creek Habitat Enhancement Project. Our project team has just completed the first phase, one of three planned over multiple years.  The first phase focused on three of the 13 total project sites within Lagunitas Creek, where logs, boulders and gravel are strategically placed to create favorable habitat for salmon spawning and rearing. The next phase includes five sites and is planned for June through November of 2025.  We are so grateful to the granting agencies, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, California Department of Water Resources and Bureau of Reclamation, and our partners at California State Parks whose support makes this project possible. We are hopeful these efforts will provide good stream habitat for threatened and endangered aquatic species in the years to come.  #Coho #Salmon #Steelhead #Marin #LagunitasCreek #Watershed #HabitatRestoration

LTSCC received a $1M grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to support wetland restoration planning at Beach Ranch! This 247-acre property, located where the Pajaro River meets the Pacific Ocean, was acquired by LTSCC in August. Over time, restoration will move the wetland habitat margin inland as winter storms strengthen in intensity and the sea level rises. This will reduce coastal flood risk by expanding the active floodplain and spreading the energy of floodwaters across a greater area. Overall, it will increase estuarine habitat in Santa Cruz County by 16%. We are grateful to the NSWF for supporting our work to create a resilient physical landscape that protects prime farmland and buffers the surrounding community from some of the worst impacts of climate disruption. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gnnniH2m

The 2024 Hazardous Fuels Transportation Assistance program garnered significant national attention, with 67 applications submitted representing 187 projects and requesting a total of $93 million. Ultimately, the USDA Forest Service awarded $20 million on Nov. 13 to fund 66 projects across 13 states, each contributing to wildfire risk reduction and landscape restoration efforts nationwide. Read More: https://lnkd.in/gTkjweRm

Our western forests are increasingly threatened by wildfire. But thanks to congressional funding for the Forest Service’s Wildfire Crisis Strategy, we’re now able to do more to promote forest resiliency and reduce wildfire risk. Read more about what the WCS team and our partners are doing in one of California’s most at-risk forest landscapes in the link below. #usforestservice #conservation #wildfire https://lnkd.in/gVPTHhH4

Bill Frist, M.D. , insightful and necessary read for all. In British Columbia, Canada, we are now all too familiar with life changing forest fires. In 2023, the Okanagan and Shuswap regions of British Columbia experienced devastating wildfires that significantly impacted the area. These fires ravaged over 20,000 hectares of land, causing extensive damage to forests, properties, and infrastructure. The financial cost of combating the fires and dealing with the aftermath soared above $720 million in insured damages alone, placing a heavy burden on local resources and emergency services. The fires led to the evacuation of numerous communities, disruption of daily life, and a long recovery process for the affected areas, including complete loss of home or business. The environmental and economic repercussions of the 2023 wildfires will be felt for years to come. That was only one part of the whole. In 2023, more than 2.84 million hectares of forest and land burned. Local, national and federal discussions, whether publicly stated or not, recognized that prescribed burns are imperative to managing our land with the changing climate temperatures.

Healthy communities depend on a healthy environment. Read the latest from our Founder and Chairman Bill Frist, M.D. to learn how prescribed burns lead to safer - and ultimately healthier - communities. #health #environment #policy #sustainability

Prescribed Fire: Restoring Forest Health and Community Resilience in Butte County I recently had the honor and privilege of being invited to a Prescribed Burn with the Butte PBA. This is the first of several videos from this great event. Join David Mitchell Butte, Prescribed Burn Association, in Magalia, Butte County, as he explains the importance of prescribed fire in forest management and community safety. In this video, you'll see:   - How prescribed burns create a mosaic to encourage native species and control invasive plants.   - Efforts to change the local perception of fire from fear to a valuable land management tool.   - Collaboration between organizations like the Mechoopda Tribe, Butte PBA, Cal Fire, the Forest Service, and local landowners.  Learn how these carefully managed burns restore ecological balance by reducing hazardous fuels, controlling conifer encroachment, and protecting historic black oak populations. With flames kept low and resources carefully coordinated, this burn demonstrates how fire can be used safely and effectively.  Discover the role of community-driven initiatives like the Butte PBA and the importance of fire as a tool for resilience and restoration in fire-prone areas.  Watch to learn how prescribed fire is helping heal the land and reconnect communities with traditional forest management practices. #ButteCounty #ChicoCalifornia #Fire #PrescribedFire #GoodFire #BringingFireBack #CommunityStewardship #ForestHealth #FireSafety #ParkFire #CampFire #Paradise 

The Mill Valley Shaded Fuel Break has been underway since 2021 and its routine maintenance helps to maintain and establish defensible space along the perimeter of many residential hillside communities including in the City of Mill Valley and the Camino Alto, Alto Bowl, and Blithedale Summit Open Space Preserves on Marin County Open Space District. Approximately 21.4 acres long, it also helps promote healthy native plants by thinning and removing invasive, non-native species, hazardous trees, and fire-hazardous vegetation. This project is made possible with Measure C funding from Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority.

This week, my thoughts have been with Texas as wildfires ravage the state, consuming over 1 million acres and claiming the lives of at least 10,000 cattle and the immeasurable loss of wildlife. Entire families and communities are facing the heartbreaking loss of their homes and ways of life. In 2021, I traversed the Texas panhandle in my RV, camping at Caprock Canyons State Park, the home of the Texas bison herd. Once, up to 60 million bison roamed North America, but in the 1870s, overhunting had reduced their numbers to less than 1,000. During this "Great Slaughter," visionaries like Mary Ann Goodnight stepped forward. Their efforts to conserve the bison through the late 19th century laid the groundwork for the recovery of bison populations across North America, showcasing the power of determined conservation efforts. The story of the bison's recovery is a testament to what we can achieve with focused action and a commitment to conservation. In the face of current challenges like the Texas wildfires, it begs the question: How can we apply this same dedication to care for our planet today? How do we move towards sustainable practices that can rejuvenate and preserve our environment? Mary Ann Goodnight's legacy is a call to action. Each environmental challenge, each wildfire, presents us with a choice: Do we revert to practices that endanger our planet, or do we seize the opportunity to rethink and reshape our relationship with the land? What steps will you take to contribute to a sustainable and resilient future? >> If you'd like to learn how you can take action, I invite you to PlanetSmart Finance Fest. See the link in the comments. #climatechange #wildfires #climatejustice