From the February 2012 Battle Mountain News

Post date: Jul 3, 2014 8:59:04 PM

Ben Lomond Camp Crews and Sponsorship

Our grants have been slowly grinding through the Federal bureaucracy and we anticipate starting work in the immediate future on nearly three and a half miles of shaded fuel breaks and vegetation management projects in three neighborhoods on upper, middle and lower Empire Grade. The reason that we have been able to stretch our few grant dollars so far is by leveraging our partnership with CAL FIRE to use Ben Lomond Camp Crews wherever possible and preserving hard dollars for hiring private contractors to work in areas where the crews are not appropriate. In order to take advantage of the 29 crew days available from CAL FIRE as in kind matching, we need two sponsors per day to lend an extra pair of eyes from 9am to 4pm to the CAL FIRE captains supervising the crews. To sponsor crews, CDC requires volunteers to first undergo four hours of training per year.

Please help us out by becoming a sponsor and donating a day or two sponsoring work on our projects. The crews are expert woodsmen and I always learn some useful techniques watching them work. This year sponsor training classes will take place at the Ben Lomond Camp, 13575 Empire Grade, from 9am to 1pm on Mon. Feb 6, Wed. Feb 8, Mon. Feb 27, Wed Feb 29, Mon. Mar 12, Wed. Mar 14, Mon. Apr 23, and Wed. Apr 25. For more information, please contact Dianna Adams at the Camp at 831/426-1610.

The Ben Lomond Camp Crews are also available during the winter for neighborhood fuel management projects beyond the grant funded work we are conducting at three locations along Empire Grade. While 15 people for $220/day is a terrific bargain, the Camp requires that there be trained sponsors and the work be done under the auspices of a 501(c)(3) non-profit community organization with a fire preparedness mission. The Fire Safe Council is precisely that and we are more than happy to coordinate with your neighborhood and the camp to adapt our community to become fire resilient.