In 2017, the Minerva fire burned 4340 acres of the Plumas National Forest (PNF), in the mountains south of Quincy. PNF has begun a timber salvage and reforestation project, starting in 2018. In areas that have been devastated due to high intensity fire, shrubs such as Ceanothus (deerbrush, snowbrush, mahala mat) and Arctostaphylos (various manzanitas) tend to dominate the area in the following years.
As with our other reforestation projects, the goal is to establish a cohort of conifer species that would otherwise be unable to regenerate in a burned landscape without mature adult seed trees. In 2021, we contracted out mechanical site preparation to remove any shrubs that would hinder the growth of conifer seedlings. Partnering with One Tree Planted, and the Plumas National Forest, the Feather River RCD will be coordinating the planting of conifer seedlings on 110 acres of the Minerva fire scar in 2022.