A $70 million infusion from the federal government is coming Tuolumne County, California’s way for post-Rim Fire, forest and watershed health projects, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced.
The county was selected by Gov. Jerry Brown’s Office to be the focus of the state’s entry in the competition because of the 2013 Rim Fire that destroyed 257,000 acres in the Central Sierra, mostly within the Tuolumne County portion of the Stanislaus National Forest.
The funding will boost forest and watershed projects, such as reforestation and restoration of areas impacted by the Rim Fire, biomass removal and thinning, strategic fire-fuel breaks, rangeland improvements and noxious weed treatments.
It will also support a biomass facility and wood products campus where forest material could be taken for processing to produce electricity and generate products such as fence posts, pellets and lumber.
Article submitted to REVITALIZATION by Larry Cope, CEO and Director of Economic Development, Tuolumne County Economic Development Authority, Sonora, California. Thanks, Larry!
Tuolumne County forest fire photo credit: www.wildlandfire.com