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To provide Cal Poly students, faculty, staff and the public with a unique interdisciplinary environment in which to foster the Learn by Doing philosophy by providing educational experiences on a working ranch, supporting diversified agriculture and forest resources while maintaining the integrity of ranch operations.

  —Our Mission

Fuels Management Training Homepage

Swanton Pacific Ranch's Fuels and Vegetation Education (FAVE) program educates professionals about wildfire fuel mitigation and vegetation management approaches with the goal of increasing the pace and scale of fuels and vegetation management to build a more sustainable and fire resilient landscape for every Californian.

Funded by CALFIRE's Healthy Forest Initiative and the California Climate Initiative, the FAVE program offers webinars and field-based workshops in every corner of California. Our work to date has focused on training participants to improve their understanding of using the California Vegetation Treatment Program (CalVTP) with examples of successful projects in various locations. We have also helped participants to increase their knowledge and skill in the use of prescribed fire. And, we have featured webinars and field trainings focused on sharing lessons learned from fuels reductions projects in many different settings.

In the future, we will be featuring more emphasis on fuels reduction projects and prescribed burning. We are excited to offer the capstone course 'California Burn Boss Training' as well as pre-requisites. And, we will expand our geographical reach across California to feature leaders in vegetation management and the innovative ways that they approach projects that make ecosystems and Californians more resilient to wildfire.

If you have a project or initiative that you would like us to feature with one of our trainings, please drop us a line with your suggestion. 

We're HIRING! Click here to learn about an opportunity to work with us as Education and Events Assistant.

Want to view recordings of our webinars? Click here for the library of our recordings.

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Upcoming trainings:

November 6th - 10th, 2023: California Prescribed-Fire Burn Boss Training

This course provides information about and develops the skills required for planning and managing prescribed fire on State or private lands.

Past trainings:

Note: There are materials for each of these that might be of interest. Check out the sites, recordings, slide decks, etc. at each of these links.
 

May 20th, 2023: Fuels Treatments in the WUI: Occidental Arts and Ecology Center

May 19th, 2023: Prescribed herbivory for fuels reduction: grazing planning and permitting in the State of California

May 18th, 2023: Fuels Treatments in the WUI: Sonoma Land Trust’s Laufenburg Ranch Preserve

May 4th, 2023: Shaded Fuel Break: Lessons Learned Post Wildfire in the San Vicente Redwoods

April 13th, 2023: CalVTP Field Training: Healdsburg Open Space/Community Fuels Reduction Project

April 6th, 2023: Environmental review pathways to long-term success: prescribed fires

March 24th, 2023: Fire Friday: Discussion about burning issues

March 16th, 2023: Targeted Grazing for Fuel Reduction: Case Studies from East Bay Regional Park District

February 24th, 2023: Navigating the Proposal Process for Wildfire Fuels Treatment Using Prescribed Grazing

February 9th, 2023: CAL FIRE's CalVTPs in the Southern Sierra Foothills 

February 7th, 2023: Practitioner Panel: Tips and tricks for early entry into the CalVTP

January 28-31, 2023: S-290 Intermediate Wildland Fire Behavior Training Course

January 19, 2023: Develop your Personal Fire Qualification Plan for Prescribed Burning: Understanding NWCG Qualifications and the California Rx Fire Burn Boss Program

January 18, 2023: Wildfire Prevention Grants for Prescribed Grazing

December 6, 2022: CalVTP & PWP in Practice: Covell Ranch Forest Health

November 28- Dec 2: Basic Wildland Fire Fighter Type 2 Training Course

November 9, 2022: CalVTP Question and Answer Webinar 

November 3, 2022: CalVTP in Practice: Lompoc Valley Fuels Reduction Project-Purisima Ridge Fuel Break

October 25, 2022: Prescribed Burning in Soquel Demonstration State Forest

Introduction to California's Utility Vegetation Wildfire Risk Mitigation Webinar

CalVTP in Practice: Sequoia Lake Case Study Webinar

Blodgett Forest Fuels Treatment Field Workshop

CalVTP Field Training: Covell Ranch Forest Health Fuels Reduction in the WUI

Understanding the CalVTP: a Virtual Training for Beginners

 

Questions?
Please contact Grey Hayes, PhD
Vegetation and Fuels Management Training Director
gfhayes@calpoly.edu (831) 227-7163

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