Program Spotlight
- Partnering to Improve Forest Health: Napa RCD & Napa Land Trust
News & Announcements
- We're Hiring a Forestry Project Manager- Join our Team!
- Staff Spotlight: Anna Mattinson
- Save the Date and Call for Site Captains: Coastal Cleanup Day
- Find us at the Calistoga Farmers Market!
In Case You Missed It
- Get your Oak Fix with our Community Oak Days
- Napa Park Rx Coalition Launches a FREE Phone App!
- Post-Fire Forest Resilience Workshop Series
Upcoming Programs
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Partnering to Improve Forest Health:
Napa RCD & Land Trust of Napa County
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Napa RCD’s Forestry Program focuses on improving forest health and wildfire resiliency. We partner with a range of organizations from local, state, and federal levels to bring resources to community-driven efforts to improve the health and resiliency of Napa County’s rural and urban forests. Through partnership with the Land Trust of Napa County, for example, we have supported efforts ranging from critical vegetation management to community and youth education.
Partnering to Improve Forest Health and Reduce Extreme Wildfire Behavior
With support from the State Coastal Conservancy and USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Services, Napa RCD and Land Trust of Napa County partnered to implement vegetation management on 120 acres of the Land Trust’s Linda Falls Preserve. Situated in the eastern hills of Napa Valley, which is a wildland-urban interface (WUI) area particularly vulnerable to wildfire, such vegetation management is critical to improving forest health and wildfire resilience.
Work was completed for 20 acres of the Linda Falls Preserve earlier this spring, and work for the remaining 100 acres is currently underway now that Northern Spotted Owl nesting season has ended. The work being done includes activities such as selective hand thinning of small/young trees, limbing of retained trees, and processing of woody debris to create habitat piles. These activities provide for multiple benefits including decreasing fire severity and tree mortality, increasing the health and vigor of remaining trees, and increasing habitat diversity.
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Partnering to Provide Community and Youth Education
Through community and youth education, we seek to demonstrate forest health best practices to landowners, land managers, those interested in forestry careers, and the general community. We have teamed up with the Land Trust of Napa County for many such education and outreach activities, including:
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Working together to provide a forest health field trip at Linda Falls Preserve for students at Palisades High School in Calistoga. Students had the opportunity to meet with and work alongside an American Conservation Experience crew of young professionals helping to remove vinca (commonly known as periwinkle) and Himalayan blackberry along Conn Creek and visiting the waterfall. The field trip was part of a year-long Napa RCD outdoor education program, in which teens learn how they can take action for the environment and develop familiarity with conservation careers.
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Hosting a workshop in July highlighting research by the Land Trust and Pepperwood Foundation measuring the impact of dry-season grazing on fuels reduction and native plant communities. This workshop provided landowners and those working in the fields of habitat restoration and fuels reduction an in-depth look at innovative grazing approaches, as well as an opportunity to see the grazing process in action at the Land Trust’s Wantrup Preserve.
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These collaborative efforts were made possible with support from:
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Join our Team!
We're Hiring a Forestry Project Manager
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We're hiring a full-time Forestry Project Manager to support forestry, wildfire mitigation, and related programming. The position will contribute to exciting and critical growth in Napa RCD’s forestry programming, which began following the 2017 Wine Country wildfires and has advanced significantly since.
The Forestry Project Manager will work with land managers, community partners, and stakeholders to improve the health of Napa County’s forests. The Forestry Project Manager will apply forestry principles, conservation planning, and project management skills to improve forest health and watershed function, facilitate wildfire prevention and preparedness, and promote healthy regeneration of burned areas. The position will be an important resource for practical forest health knowledge and experience within the community, and support planning and implementation at a variety of scales.
To learn more and to apply, either follow the QR code in this newsletter
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Staff Spotlight:
Anna Mattinson, Office Manager
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Usually, the one person that keeps us all in line is the last to step forward and take credit for the work they do. Here at Napa RCD, we are no exception!
Meet Anna Mattinson, our Office Manager Extraordinaire! Anna works behind the scenes to help manage contracts, do our billing, keep us in check from an HR standpoint, make sure we're reporting on the work we do at the right time, and getting each of us the supplies we need to do our work.
Anna is a Napa native, born and raised here in Napa County. She's been with Napa RCD for about 17 years but like many folks did not know what an RCD was before joining the team. She learned fast, and now knows many of our programs inside and out due to her work keeping all of us in line!
Throughout her 17 years, Anna's job has expanded to include more tasks as our team and our program areas have grown. That growth is what Anna says is the biggest change she's seen in her time here- growth not just in the services we provide but in the numbers of staff. At this point, Napa RCD is bursting our office at the seams and keeping Anna more than busy.
Luckily, Anna says that her favorite part of working at Napa RCD is the people she gets to work with. Staff come from different backgrounds and work in very different areas, offering up a variety of things to talk and learn about!
In her free time, Anna loves to hang out with her family, spend time in Hawaii, garden, put together puzzles, read, and, just like all of us, binge watch a good show now and then! When asked if there was one thing she wanted to share with folks, she responded with the following:
"It is illegal to own just one guinea pig in Switzerland. It's considered animal abuse because they're social beings and get lonely."
That seems like a great place to leave this staff spotlight! If you call our main number it's Anna that answers, so next time you're trying to get in touch make sure you thank her for all of her hard work!
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Save the Date and Call for Site Captains:
Coastal Cleanup Day is September 17
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Each August, Napa RCD goes into planning mode for Coastal Cleanup Day! Somehow it is already August, and we're at it again.
Volunteers, here is your official Save the Date for Coastal Cleanup Day 2022:
September 17 • 9am-12pm
**We are looking for a couple more people to act as Site Captains, who will help support the following tasks for our sites:
- Check people in and make sure waivers are signed
- Welcome volunteers and do a safety talk
- Help volunteers sort their trash
- Pick up and return supplies (buckets, grabbers, etc.)
- Collect data and report back to Napa RCD
If you would like to be a site captain at one of our sites this year, please contact Ashley@NapaRCD.org or 707-690-3117.
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Find us at the Calistoga Waterwise Expo!
August 20 • 9am-1pm • Calistoga Farmers Market
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We're excited to join our friends at City of Calistoga Water for the Calistoga Summer Waterwise Expo! We'll be there with activities for kids, info on ways to remove your lawn and get it ready for a drought-tolerant, native landscape plan, and more! Our friends from the California Native Plant Society will also be there!
Don't miss out- the City of Calistoga will be talking about Water Efficiency Rebates, Greywater Systems, and more!
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Get Your Oak Fix!
Three Community Oak Days Coming Up!
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Summer is winding down, but we still have three opportunities for you to give our oaks a helping hand! Join us for one or all of our upcoming volunteer days:
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Napa ParkRx Offers a New Way to
Explore Napa County- for health and for fun!
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Want to go outside, but are not sure where to go? Download the free OuterSpatial app to help guide you in getting outdoors. The app will help you find free guided hikes, neighborhood walking maps, fun community events and classes for the best outdoor experience possible.
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¿Quieres salir, pero no estás seguro de adónde ir? Descargue la aplicación OuterSpatial gratuita para que lo oriente a salir al aire libre. La aplicación lo ayudará a encontrar caminatas guiadas gratuitas, mapas para caminar en el vecindario, eventos comunitarios divertidos y clases para tener la mejor experiencia al aire libre posible.
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Post-Fire Forest Resilience Workshop Series
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University of California - Agriculture and Natural Resources (UCANR) is hosting a series of workshops focusing on connecting landowners affected by recent wildfires to post-fire management concepts, strategies, professionals, and programs. This series is geared towards landowners affected by the 2021 Dixie, Caldor, and Tamarack fires. However, the programs and methods discussed will be a preview to a workshop offered in the future specific to Napa County.
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Did you know that we have a separate email list for volunteers?
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Help support Napa RCD - Donate Today!
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Napa County Resource Conservation District | 707-252-4189 | NapaRCD.org
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