I’ve spent the past 11 months as a GrizzlyCorps Fellow with Napa RCD. GrizzlyCorps is an AmeriCorps program designed by Project Climate at UC Berkeley’s Center for Law, Energy, and the Environment, in partnership with CaliforniaVolunteers. I was a member of a cohort of about 35 fellows serving at organizations throughout the state in fire and forest resiliency and/or regenerative agriculture. I spent the year working as a member of Napa RCD’s Forest Health Program. Let me share a little bit about what I’ve worked on this year!

I came to Napa knowing relatively little about it - anything I had heard about Napa was in association with wine. While it’s true that viticulture is a big part of Napa’s identity, there is much more to Napa than grapes and wine. Considered a biodiversity hotspot, about 18.5% of California’s plant species can be found here in Napa County, which makes up only about 0.5% of the state’s land area. This makes Napa a very exciting place to be doing resource conservation work.

My overarching goal for the service year was to build Napa RCD’s capacity to help the community improve forest health and wildfire resilience by developing new resources and contributing to education and outreach efforts. These projects included developing resources about oak planting and care, doing research into monitoring, and creating a web map and stories about a forest health cost share program. I also provided general support to the outreach and education teams and participated in inventory and monitoring efforts.

Read Gabe's full summary and see some of the things he's created at the Napa RCD website.

Welcome, Rosa Brandt!

We've got a new team member at Napa RCD: Rosa Brandt! Rosa will be overseeing the administration of the North Bay Forest Improvement Program (NBFIP) and NRCS Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) projects. Take a moment to get to know her!

How long have you been interested/involved in the world of resource conservation?

I've been interested in conservation since I was a kid, but during college and immediately after was when I realized that it was a field that I wanted to work in, or at least adjacent to. 

How did you find your way to this field?

Summers during college and for the first couple of years after I graduated, I had a series of temporary field jobs ranging from plant surveys for the National Park Service to endangered bird surveys along the Rio Grande for the Bureau of Reclamation. Ever since I was little I have spent the majority of my free time outdoors, and in more recent years I was thrilled to learn that I could be paid to spend time outdoors doing work that I love. Over the last 2 years my work mostly keeps me indoors, but I still love the chance to go out in the field on occasion. 

What are some specific projects you are/will be working on?

Managing the North Bay Forest Improvement Program (NBFIP) involves tracking individual landowner projects, coordinating communication between landowners, partners, and our funder, overseeing contracts, and invoicing quarterly, among other tasks.

What do you like to do in your free time?

In my free time I like to hike, sit outdoors and read, listen to and watch birds, and train my dog. In the colder months I love to read or knit while cozy indoors.

We also asked Rosa for a fun trivia fact about herself! Her response?

During portions of 2017 and 2018 I hiked 2,000 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) with my younger sister, in several large sections.

Welcome to the team, Rosa, we all look forward to working with you!

Measuring Impacts:

Summary of community and youth outreach related to keeping Napa's water clean

We've been SUPER busy this past year, and one good way to get a sense of those accomplishments is to take a look at our Annual Stormwater Report.

This year we reached

• 756 students through youth education programs
• 822 community members at cleanups
• 1,481 people at tabling events
• 855 people at pet waste prevention events
• 12,950 people through digital formats

For a small county, that's a LOT of people reached! We don't often toot our own horn, but for our 4-person Community Engagement Team, that's a big deal!

Request for Qualifications: On-Call Vegetation Management Services

Napa RCD is a part of the Inner Coast Collaborative (ICC), a regional partnership of Napa RCD, Clear Lake Environmental Resource Center, Colusa County RCD, Solano RCD, Sonoma RCD, and Yolo County RCD that receives funding from the Department of Conservation's Regional Forest and Fire Capacity Grant.

To help inform regional forest and fire planning efforts, a survey has been created to summarize the socio-ecological context of the region's resilience to wildfire. Data from this survey helps inform decision-making and is a way for folks in Northern California to provide input on efforts to plan for and mitigate wildfire throughout the region. The survey takes 10-15 minutes to complete and will remain open until Tuesday, August 1, 2023.

Big News for Irrigation Efficiency: Napa RCD receives $500,000 grant from CDFA WETA Program

The California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Office of Environmental Farming and Innovation has announced $7.4 million in grants to organizations to provide technical assistance to help farmers and ranchers use water more efficiently.

Under the Water Efficiency Technical Assistance (WETA) program, the awarded organizations will provide producers with important services to maintain and finely tune the use of their irrigation systems, including:

• Providing on-farm irrigation system evaluations
• Coordinating or providing pump efficiency testing
• Providing training on water use efficiency and nutrient management practices and technology

The department is awarding 17 grants with terms of three years. Napa RCD has been awarded a $500,000 grant for work in Napa, Lake, Solano, and Sonoma Counties.

Harmful Algal Bloom Community Science Opportunity

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is inviting community scientists and the scientific community to help track fish mortalities possibly associated with the current Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) detected in waters within the San Francisco Bay Area.

They are asking citizens to report sightings of dead fish on the iNaturalist “SF Bay Harmful Algae Bloom 2023” project.

Acorns to Oaks 10th Birthday Celebration & Workday

at Alston Park

August 26 | 9-11am

Save the Date! Coastal Cleanup Day 2023

Sept 23 | 9am-12pm