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  —Our Mission

Fuels and Vegetation Education Program 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 training's 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 California State-Certified Prescribed Fire Burn Boss Training (CARX) 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. 

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

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Upcoming trainings: 

October 9th, 2024: Oak Woodland Forest Health and Fire Management 

This webinar is an opportunity for participants to increase their understanding of how forest health surveys can help improve fuels and vegetation management strategies in California’s oak woodland communities. 

October 19th, 2024: Wildfire Resilience for Russian River Forested Communities in Sonoma County

This in-person field workshop is an opportunity to learn about fuels management and wildfire resilience through the work of local communities within the lower Russian River in Sonoma County.

October 21st-28th, 2024: San Luis Obispo TREX

TREX firelighters will engage in 8 days of training on breathtaking wildlands, learning and working alongside professional fire practitioners, tribal partners, ranchers, land managers, and community members to meet diverse objectives with "Good Fire".

October 30th, 2024: Lessons Learned about Forest Restoration from the West Mount Shasta Forest Resiliency Project

This field workshop is an opportunity to learn about how forest restoration practices can increase forest ecosystem health and wildfire resiliency using lessons learned from the West Mount Shasta Forest Resiliency Project.

October 31st, 2024: Home Protection and Forest Resiliency in Siskiyou County Field Workshop

This field workshop is ideal for landowners, community members, and anyone interested in learning more about what resources and services are available for forest management and wildfire resilience in the Mount Shasta region.

November 9th-18th, 2024: 2024 Santa Barbara Training Exchange (TREX)

TREX firelighters will engage in 10 days of training on breathtaking wildlands, learning and working alongside professional fire practitioners.

November 13th, 2024: Partnering with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on the CalVTP to protect wildlife and promote wildfire resilience

Showcasing best practices on CalVTP projects from the perspective of project proponent and wildlife agency staff about their coordination process, outcomes, and lessons learned.

December 12th, 2024: Large Scale Broadcast Burning for Fuels Reduction: Lessons learned from CAL FIRE CZU Unit

This webinar is an opportunity for participants to increase their understanding of planning, permitting, and implementing large-scale fuel reduction broadcast burns in the CZU Unit.

January 13th - 17th, 2025: California State-Certified Prescribed Fire Burn Boss (CARX)

This in-person classroom-based 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.
 

October 2nd, 2024: CalVTP in Practice: Lessons learned from oak forest and meadow restoration with the Butano State Park Forest Health Project

September 30th, 2024: Good fire in Southern California: restoring landscapes and habitat, managing fuel load, and creating wildfire resilience

September 26th, 2024: CAL FIRE’s Vegetation Management Program (VMP): a case study of the UC Hopland Research & Extension Center’s VMP

September 13th, 2024: CalVTP in Practice: Learning from Pile Burning and Broadcast Burning at Berkeley Forests' Grouse Ridge VTP Project Field Workshop

August 15th, 2024: Forest Health in a Post-Fire Redwood Ecosystem: Restoration and Regeneration at Swanton Pacific Ranch

August 5th-8th, 2024: S-290 Intermediate Wildland Fire Behavior Training Course 

August 8th, 2024: Forest Health Management in the WUI: Lessons Being Learned at Jackson Demonstration State Forest

July 26th, 2024: Prescribed Fire: Collaborative Experiences from the Forests of Alpine County

July 18th, 2024: Coastal Prairie Restoration to Mitigate Wildfire Risk

July 11th, 2024: Collaboration, Connection, and Commitment: Successes from a Case Study in Fuels Reduction

June 27th & June 29th, 2024: Soquel Demonstration State Forest: Timber Management, Forest Health, and Fire Safety

June 10th-14th, 2024: California State-Certified Prescribed Fire Burn Boss (CARX) 

June 8th, 2024: Forest Health and Fire Resiliency on the Jenner Headlands: An overview of forest management for landowners and communities

May 20th, 2024: Planning for Fire Resilience in the Coastal Zone: A case study of Marin County

May 9th, 2024: Chaparral and sage scrub management in the California Central Coast: balancing fire protection with environmental protection

April 11th, 2024: CalVTP in Practice: Navigating the CalVTP Consultation Process with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife

April 4th, 2024: CalVTP in Practice: Learning from Pile Burning and Broadcast Burning at Berkeley Forests' Grouse Ridge VTP Project

March 14th, 2024: Collaboration in a Forest Health Grant: Insights from the Los Gatos Creek Watershed Collaborative

February 15th, 2024: Fuels Reduction Projects: Lessons Learned at Jenner Headlands Preserve

February 1st, 2024: Collaborative Fuels Reduction Projects: Lessons Learned from the Resource Conservation District of Tehama County

January 26th, 2024: CalVTP in Practice: Lessons Learned in Implementation at Purisima Ridge Shaded Fuel Break

January 25th, 2024: Using the Public Works Plan in California’s Coastal Zone

January 19th, 2024: Planning for Fire Resilience in Coastal Marin County

December 12th, 2023: Forest Health Grants and Forest Practice Documents: Can they be used together to create a more resilient landscape?

December 7th, 2023: Using the CalVTP: New Implementation Tools and Lessons Learned

November 11th - 18th, 2023: Santa Barbara Training Exchange (TREX)

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

November 1st, 2023: CalVTP Field Training: Sierra Foothills, Vista Del Rio Project

October 27th, 2023: Field Training: Fuels Treatments in the Urban Wildland Interface: Lessons learned from the San Mateo County Parks Project

October 17th, 2023: Project Development and Regulatory Sequencing for Wildfire Grants

October 16th, 2023: Field Training: Prescribed Burning at Soquel Demonstration State Forest

October 13th, 2023: Field Training: Fuels Treatments in the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI): Lessons Learned from the Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team

September 18th - 22nd: Basic Firefighter Training: Round Valley Tribal Training Course

September 14th, 2023: CalVTP in Practice: Lessons Learned From the Urban Interface in San Mateo County Parks  

July 27th, 2023: Field Training: Fuels Treatments in the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI): Lessons Learned Post Wildfire at Swanton Pacific Ranch

July 20th, 2023: Webinar: Post-Fire Fuels Treatments in a Coastal Demonstration Forest: the Recent Past and Future of Cal Poly's Swanton Pacific Ranch

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

July 14, 2022: Introduction to California's Utility Vegetation Wildfire Risk Mitigation Webinar

June 29, 2022: CalVTP in Practice: Sequoia Lake Case Study Webinar

June 23, 2022: Blodgett Forest Fuels Treatment Field Workshop

May 26, 2022: CalVTP Field Training: Covell Ranch Forest Health Fuels Reduction in the WUI

March 30, 2022: Understanding the CalVTP: a Virtual Training for Beginners

 

Questions?
Please contact Grey Hayes, PhD
Fuels and Vegetation Education Program Director

gfhayes@calpoly.edu or (831) 227-7163

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