El Dorado County Resilience Digest

Tahoe National Forest is now seeking public comment for the Big Jack East: Targeted Grazing Project, which proposes the use of targeted grazing to reduce fuels on up to 2,012 acres of Forest Service lands in northeastern Placer County near Truckee.

More than two years after their small community burned in the Caldor Fire, Grizzly Flat residents are anticipating the reopening of their local U.S. Postal Service post office, now in its final stages of construction.

2023 has broken climate records, accompanied by extreme weather which has left a trail of devastation, according to the World Meteorological Organization.

Much of California could get hit by extreme weather conditions this winter. A major storm is due to hit Northern California this week.

More than 1.5 million acres of forest have been burned or scarred in California. Climbers go high in trees to grab pine cones that could help in reforestation.

El Dorado Water Agency’s fifth Countywide Plenary for Water focused on aligning watershed management with economic development and community resilience, as well as investments needed to improve hydrologic forecasting, to better handle droughts, floods and other disasters.

The Georgetown Divide Public Utility District has been selected as a recipient of $250,000 in state appropriations funding.

The El Dorado Irrigation District Board of Directors has adopted its 2024-28 Capital Improvement Plan.

Forecasters have struggled to understand why tropical storms sometimes blow up into major hurricanes. Scientists have shed some light on this forecasting challenge.

George Turnboo’s campaign to bring tiny homes to El Dorado County has gained traction following the Board of Supervisors’ direction to county staff to draft an ordinance that would allow Grizzly Flat residents to utilize the structures.

With conditions favorable for burning, Eldorado National Forest officials plan to resume their prescribed burning program.

Chuck Huebner, 79, has dedicated his life to his country. The result of 40 years of service between various military branches and government departments resulted in a lifetime of stories recently published as “On The Road Again.”

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has identified nearly 500 “zones” that are ill-prepared to tolerate flooding, earthquakes, heat waves, wildfires, landslides and other natural hazards. California topped all states with 51 total zones, followed by 35 in Texas and 32 in Florida.

A new study that found human-caused climate warming has increased the frequency of fast-spreading California wildfires has come into question from the unlikeliest of critics—its own lead author.

Fire lookout towers are often referred to as one of “the first lines of defense” when it comes to identifying new wildfires. Towers across both El Dorado and Amador counties are staffed with volunteers, most of whom have backgrounds as first responders.

The recent wildfire in Maui was a scary wake-up call, and the West Slope Foundation has developed an eight-part Disaster Preparedness Workshop that is free to the community.

After California lost over 4 million acres to fire in 2020, the state funded Task Force Rattlesnake, with National Guardsmen to assist Cal Fire.

Tabatha Walker lived in her Grizzly Flat dream home for four years and then it was gone overnight—reduced to cinders like more than 400 other homes by the 2021 Caldor Fire.

Summer heatwaves can strain California’s electricity supply, prompting energy emergency notifications to appear across highway signs and social media.

Caldor Fire survivors are taking on the federal government, claiming the U.S. Forest Service failed to protect Grizzly Flats when the Caldor Fire ignited in August of 2021 and destroyed more than 400 of the 600 homes in the mountain community.

As sea levels rise, many countries are considering a controversial strategy: relocation of communities. A Stanford analysis of planned relocations around the world reveals a blueprint for positive outcomes from an approach often considered a last resort.

Luis Yauri Oyola hopes one day to buy a tractor to start a business in Peru; he estimates that he is six years away from that goal, for which he will have spent more than a decade of his life living thousands of miles away from his family. He is on call 24/7 and doesn’t leave the job site except for necessities.

The Rescue Fire Department has added two cutting-edge apparatus to its fleet: a Type 2, 2023 Pierce Freightliner fire engine and a 2023 Fouts Bros. Western Star water tender.

County officials are currently in discussion to secure a piece of U.S. Forest Service-owned land off String Canyon Road to build a community center that could provide the community of Grizzly Flat a beacon of hope while it recovers and rebuilds from the 2021 Caldor Fire.

North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District has implemented Fire Aside's Defensible Space Evaluation software as part of an expanded commitment to improve residents' wildfire resilience, funded by Parasol Tahoe Community Foundation.

If you live pretty much anywhere in California, you’re familiar with to-do lists that help residents prepare for wildfires. What might be missing from the lists are ways to deal with stress and anxiety.

El Dorado County supervisors added their support to Assembly Bill 704, which assists those who lost their homes in a disaster—like the Caldor and Mosquito fires—by eliminating the state’s requirement that their new homes include a solar power system.

In an effort to help restore the Eldorado National Forest in the Grizzly Flat area, South Lake Tahoe-based Sugar Pine Foundation will lead a tree replanting effort on May 20 at ground zero of the Caldor Fire scar.

Winter storm damage is a chance to make the changes to your house you’ve always wanted, but having help to navigate the insurance process can make a big difference.

California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara announced that by the end of the year all insurance companies will be mandated to offer a discount to insured members who create defensible defensible space and adhere to guidelines outlined by Firewise USA.

Cal Fire will be testing use of German environmental start-up Dryad Networks’ “ultra-early” wildfire detection technology to improve fire detection speeds. A pilot program will test 400 of Dryad’s sensors in the largest of Cal Fire's 10 demonstration forests—Jackson Demonstration State Forest in Mendocino County.

Asphalt pavement formulated with recycled plastic has successfully survived heavy truck traffic and the atmospheric rivers of the winter of 2022-23 after a section of California State Route 99 flooded in January.