From the March 2012 Battle Mountain News

Post date: Jul 3, 2014 9:00:59 PM

Shaded Fuel Break Grant Kickoff Workshop Saturday, March 3

This month we will be starting work on the Shaded Fuel Break/Vegetation Management Projects on mid- and lower Empire Grade!

In order to get the word out and educate our community about what we will be doing and what you can do to help, we will be holding a Kickoff Workshop at 9229 Empire Grade (at the corner of Pine Flat and Empire Grade) from 10 to 12 am, Saturday, March 3. Working with Ben Lomond Camp Crews 2 and 5, we have made that property into a model of what a Fire Safe property in Bonny Doon should look like. There will be maps, handouts, and guided tours comparing the finished property with the current state of the frontage of Fall Creek State Park across Empire Grade.

If your property fronts onto Empire Grade between Pine Flat and Sunlit Lane, or between Pineridge and the Quarry, we especially urge you to attend, as there will be opportunities to sign up to receive grant-funded assistance with your property, opportunities that the approach of fire season and the end of the first of our two grants force us to close on a week later, on March 10.

Come to see how safe and how park-like Bonny Doon can be. Stay to learn more about the Fire Safe Council and our work.

Ben Lomond Camp Crews and Sponsorship

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. 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.