Over the past couple of years, Napa RCD has partnered with Suscol Intertribal Council to improve forest health and wildfire resilience of the Suskol House land and support the Suscol Intertribal Council’s development and implementation of a workforce training program. These activities are a part of Napa RCD’s Forest Health Program, which seeks to improve the health and resilience of Napa County’s rural and urban forests through technical and financial assistance, community education, and collaboration.
To guide the management of the Suskol House’s 17 acres of forested land, Napa RCD staff and Dogwood Springs Forestry worked with the Suscol Intertribal Council to develop a Forest Management Plan (FMP). These plans are a living document that outlines a landowner’s goals for their property and the best way to achieve those goals given the history and current state of, the forest and other natural resources on the property. Two key goals for the Suscol Intertribal Council were to protect the Suskol House from potential wildfires and to preserve culturally important species such as manzanita and gray pine for future stewardship using indigenous practices. To achieve these goals, a crew was brought in to implement key vegetation management activities, including selective thinning of small/young trees and shrubs that served as ladder fuels, pruning of trees and shrubs to be kept on the land, and removal of invasive species.
Once this work was complete, there was more space between trees, which allows mature trees to secure the resources that they need to stay healthy and reduces the risk of wildfire spreading to property infrastructure. In this managed forest, sunlight can now reach the ground, promoting the growth of native flowers and grasses, supporting biodiversity and providing forage for wildlife. The forest is now also more accessible—where it was previously too densely forested to walk and explore, the Suscol Intertribal Council can now more meaningfully engage with their forest and the culturally significant plants it is home to. Charlie Toledo, the Executive Director of Suscol Intertribal Council, has been ecstatic about the completion of the project saying, “The aesthetics are wonderful! We can now see the forest! Also, more animal and bird sightings. We can watch and supervise folks hiking or working on the hillsides now!”
The Suscol Intertribal Council has also invested in workforce training days covering fire prevention, erosion control, water conservation, and plant identification. Participants are mostly young adults learning about defensible space, how to operate a weed eater, clearing culverts, identifying native plants and their cultural uses, and working with drip irrigation line. In addition to these important workforce development efforts, Suscol Intertribal Council has also partnered with Napa RCD’s education team to provide fieldtrips for K-12 students to the Suskol House to learn about indigenous stewardship of the land.
This collaboration was supported through grants that Napa RCD received from the State Coastal Conservancy and the Department of Conservation’s Regional Forest and Fire Capacity program. Additional funding was also provided to the Suscol Intertribal Council through the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS) Environmental Quality Incentives.
Have questions about Forest Management Plans? Check out this page on our website.