Watershed Research & Training Center

Location: Hayfork, CA - *Sierra Nevada North (Trinity County)

Contact: Laurie Roan 530-628-4206 - lroan@hayfork.net or wrtc@hayfork.net

Common by-products of forest health management are 3 to 10 inch diameter logs from the thinning of plantation pine, suppressed Douglas fir, and various hardwoods. In the past, the products of thinning by the Forest Service were usually piled and burned in place or sold as chips. With funding from the Ford Foundation and the James Irvine Foundation, The Watershed Research and Training Center helped to create Trinity County Business Incubator to develop the ability to process the by-products of their restoration activities into useful products to be sold regionally.

Now logs from WRTC thinning projects are sent to the Hayfork Log Sort Yard where they are sorted by size and species into pole quality according to market and processing needs. To sustain its programs, the WRTC contracts with local mill Talrocca Industries to produce Small Diameter Posts and Poles, Gazebo Kits and Bridge Kits that it sells on its website.

WRTC projects are diverse, and include forest management to improve water quality through Big Creek Watershed Management, market services and industry support through Small Diameter Utilization Training and Education, analog forestry with a study of Non-Timber Forest Products, and community Youth Programs, Socio Economic Monitoring, and training for scientific, agency and infrastructure management, through Trinity Community GIS.

WRTC has been also active in the development of monitoring and verification processes for The Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities^TMfoster land stewardship. At the other end of the product cycle, HFHCP employs heritage marketing strategies by labeling products with the story of where the wood comes from, who makes the product, and how its sale contributes to the goals of forest communities. Partnership (HFHCP). (HFHCP) is creating economic opportunities in small communities, such as Hayfork, by finding new ways to

For more about:

• Forest Pest Management, see Calif. Forest Pest Council
• Grants for Forest Business Development, see Ford Foundation and the James Irvine Foundation
• How and why the business incubator established the WRTC, see comments on SB 2672, the Community-based Forest and Public Lands Restoration Act, HFHCP Testimony to US Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee
• WRTC products, see Small Diameter Posts and Poles, Gazebo Kits and Bridge Kits
• WRTC projects, see Big Creek Watershed Management, Small Diameter Utilization Training and Education, Non-Timber Forest Products, Youth Programs, Socio Economic Monitoring, and Trinity Community GIS
• The Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities^TM Partnership (HFHCP), a nonprofit collaborative project administered by Sustainable Northwest with members including Environmental Building Supplies, Wallowa Resources, Partnership for a Sustainable Method, Ecosystem Workforce Program (University of Oregon), Institute for Sustainable Forestry, American Forests, and the Pinchot Institute

Similar Businesses and Organizations:

• To Submit a project or organization similar to WRTC, email forestry@sbcouncil.org
• More Coming Soon