New resources from the State of California have been awarded to address the problem of dead and dying trees in the Mother Lode Region and the Southern Sierras. The California Workforce Development Board (CWDB) has awarded the Greater Sierra Forestry Corps a $2.5 million High Road Training Partnership (HRTP) grant to train “Forestry Fuel Management Technicians.”

Greater Sierra Forestry Corps, in partnership with Mother Lode Job Training and Columbia College, will be hosting the formal HRTP $2.5 million check presentation on Monday, May 15 at 2 p.m. at Columbia College-Carkeet Community Park, 11600 Columbia College Drive, Sonora, with an Orientation at 3:30 p.m. for prospective students.

Greater Sierra Forestry Corps is a partnership of private industry, workforce agencies, community colleges, organized labor, and environmental organizations committed to bringing additional resources to train new workers to deal with the ever-growing problem of dead and dying trees in the Greater Sierras. Partners include Mother Lode Job Training, Columbia College, Sierra Resource Management, Yosemite Adult School, CalFire Local 2881, National Federation of Federal Employees: Forest Service Council 2995, Associated California Loggers, Sierra Pacific Industries, TuCare, Tuolumne River Trust, Yosemite Stanislaus Solutions, Sierra Resource Conservation District.

The Greater Sierra Forestry Corps will expand its best-practice model of providing crucial forestry and fuels management training from Reedley College to Columbia College. This training is vital to decrease the number of wildfires in California.