Power Fire Nexus Fuel Reduction and Grant Funding
To address the Power Fire’s aftermath and promote resilience in the face of future wildfires, Trihydro worked with the Mountain Counties Water Resources Association (MCWRA) to secure $179,000 in grant funding to create a large-scale fire fuels reduction analysis and strategic plan.
The 2004 Power Fire burned approximately 17,000 acres of the Eldorado National Forest and private land. The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation released a grant opportunity for the Strategic Analysis of Fuels Management in the Power Fire Scar of the El Dorado National Forest to address the fire’s aftermath and promote resilience in the face of future wildfires.
Securing Grant Funding
In 2019, Trihydro worked successfully with the Mountain Counties Water Resources Association (MCWRA) to secure $179,000 in grant funding to create a large-scale fire fuels reduction analysis and strategic plan to identify innovative, efficient, and cost-effective fuels reduction and biomass management plans for fuels reduction projects within the Panther Creek, Bear River, and Cole Creek watersheds of the El Dorado National Forest.
Planning for Forest Health
The project involved prioritizing areas for fuel reduction, developing a feasibility study-based approach to identify and rank alternatives, presenting results in a strategic fuel management plan, and providing a weighted risk/benefit matrix that could be used as a tool to manage forest health.
Balancing Priorities
The prioritization effort considered numerous variables, including cultural resources, access, sensitive habitats, alignment with other projects, critical infrastructure, and future fire risk. Trihydro identified and evaluated traditional and innovative fuel removal methods, including prescribed burning, selective thinning, and biomass energy. Trihydro considered multiple factors when evaluating alternatives, including economic benefits, labor requirements, watershed health, greenhouse gas emissions, and alignment with United States Forest Service goals.
