San Gabriel Chapter Winter Dinner Meeting December 1

The 2009 Station Fire that burned much of the Angeles National Forest over a year ago remains in the news. Many different concerns and parties are currently discussing the efforts put forth to extinguish the fire. The Society of American Foresters is also paying close attention to this matter. If you've been reading our announcements, you would know that two of our last three Chapter meetings have focused on the fire; first the suppression efforts as told by Incident Commander Mike Dietrich and secondly viewing the artwork generated from the fire by "ART from the ashes".

Our interest in this significant fire event continues as we invite Ms. Corina Roberts to share her photographic documentation of the Station Fire recovery processes. Corina Roberts is a writer, photographer and the founder of Redbird, a Native American and environmental non profit association. Roberts has spent the last year documenting the recovery of the Angeles National Forest from the Station Fire, the largest wildland fire in the history of Los Angeles County. The Forest Recovery Project examines the role of fire in healthy ecosystems as well as the human relationship to fire management, past and present. Roberts has amassed a collection in excess of 20,000 images from the forest’s three primary biomes; chaparral, riparian and hardwood/conifer forests. To view sample images from the Forest Recovery Project, please visit www.RedbirdsVision.org

The San Gabriel Chapter Winter Dinner Meeting will be held Wednesday, December 1 at 5:30 pm at the County of Los Angeles Fire Department Camp 2 (4810 N. Oak Grove Drive, La Canada Flintridge). Cost is $10.00 at the door. Please RSVP to Chapter Chair Doug Nickles by November 29 at dnickles@yahoo.com or socalsaf@gmail.com as we will need to give the Camp cooks a headcount for dinner.

ART from the ashes

San Gabriel Chapter SAF Summer Meeting
July 22

In April 2009 the Southern California SAF Spring Meeting was held in Santa Barbara to review the lessons learned from the 2008 Tea and Gap Fires. Ironically, the Jesusita Fire started two weeks later and burned significant portions of the Santa Barbara Botanic Gardens, including portions we had just toured.

Last fall the San Gabriel Chapter benefited from a detailed presentation by Incident Commander Mike Dietrich on the challenges of fighting the Station Fire that burned 160,000 acres in Los Angeles County - the largest in the county's history. Stories of the homes and property that had been destroyed were rampant during the fire and immediately following its containment. Throughout this past winter we were peppered by the news media as every rain storm approached warning us of pending devastation from mudslides.

Whether from the fire or mudslides, many families were displaced and began the long process of putting their lives back together again. Land managers were forced to assess the resources entrusted to them and revise and/or update management plans. How many times has this scenario been played out for us each fall over the years?

Coincidentally, the Jesusita and Station Fires had something unique in common as part of their recovery effort - ART from the ashes. This non-profit organization was established in 2007 "to provide a cathartic avenue to communities affected by wildfire by transfiguring fire site debris into beautiful works of art."

Founder and artist Joy Feuer will be our guest speaker as we learn more about the organization and its purpose, Joy's vision in using art for healing and fundraising, and the events to support the Santa Barbara Botanical Gardens and Deukmejian Wilderness Park in Glendale (the entire 700 acre park was burned in the Station Fire). Dottie Sharkey, President of the Glendale Parks and Open Space Foundation, will give a short presentation on their fundraising partnership with ART from the ashes.

Following the presentation we will be able to wander through the art gallery viewing the 135 unique pieces of art donated by 64 different artists created from the "ashes" of the Station Fire. [You can get a sneak preview on the ART from the ashes website - see the drop-down panel on the right.]

WARNING: you will never think of burned branches, rusted pipe, molten metal and broken glass as merely "debris" again.

When
Thursday, July 22, 2010 - 6:00pm

Cost
$10.00 (donation for the exhibit)

Where
ART from the ashes Gallery
216 S. Brand Boulevard
Glendale, CA
(Across from the Americana at Brand at Caruso Avenue - click for map)

San Gabriel Chapter Spring/Summer Dinner Meeting June 3

Los Angeles County Oak Woodlands Conservation Management Plan

The San Gabriel Chapter SAF is pleased to announce our upcoming Spring/Summer Dinner meeting with a very timely regional topic. Our guest will be Rosi Dagit, Certified Arborist with the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains.

Rosi will be describing the draft Los Angeles County Oak Woodlands Conservation Management Plan; she will also be soliciting input from the SAF members and guests present as the plan development team moves toward the plan implementation stage. One of the key elements of the plan is to address management of the oak and affiliated resources at the woodland level rather than the tree level.

Rosi Dagit, Senior Conservation Biologist and Certified Arborist, has been working at the RCDSMM since she moved to Los Angeles in 1987. She has initiated and coordinated numerous research, restoration and monitoring projects throughout the Santa Monica Mountains, starting with studies of Malibu Lagoon, Leo Carrillo State Beach and moving inland to watershed level analysis and sensitive species monitoring. She has published numerous technical papers, as well as a children’s book, Grandmother Oak. Currently Rosi serves as a member of the Los Angeles County Environmental Review Board and leader of the Topanga Creek Stream Team. Rosi is also a member of the Los Angeles County Beach Commission, technical advisor for the CA Oak Foundation and former member of the City of Malibu Environmental Review Board.

Join us at 5:30 pm on Thursday, June 3 at Los Angeles County Fire Department Camp 2 in La Canada Flintridge (4810 N. Oak Grove Drive, across from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory - click here for map). Dinner will be served promptly at 6:00 pm with introductions and the presentation beginning at 7:00 pm. Cost is $10.00 payable at the door. RSVP by Tuesday, June 1 so we can give the camp cooks a head count.

For additional information, or if you have any questions, contact Chapter Chair Doug Nickles at 818-548-2882 or dnickles@yahoo.com. You can also contact J Lopez at jlopez@fire.lacounty.gov for additional information.

SoCal SAF Spring Meeting May 21-22

Southern California Society of American Foresters

2010 Spring Meeting: Forestry Technology and Development

Caring for the Land and Serving People

Friday May 21

USFS San Dimas Technology & Development Center

444 East Bonita Avenue San Dimas, CA 91773-3103

2010 Forestry Technology and Development

The San Dimas Technology and Development Center (SDTDC) was established in 1945 to standardize fire equipment. At that time the Center—known as the Arcadia Fire Equipment Development Center —was located in Arcadia, California. It consolidated all Forest Service fire equipment problem-solving efforts into a "laboratory sufficient to serve the fire control requirements of the Western Regions." Southern California was selected due to the large fire activity in the area, its evolving industrial and academic centers, and the availability of space in an existing Los Angeles County Forest Service facility.

SDTDC is a national program of the Forest Service Engineering staff in Washington, DC, and serves emerging technological requirements of the Forest Service and its cooperators.

To support the Technology and Development program's mission of resource management problem solving, the Center has a cadre of personnel with far reaching skills. Engineers, technicians, foresters, draftsmen, writers, and desktop publishers all work as project team members to support the problem-solving goals of the Center. Program areas include fire and aviation, recreation, engineering, watershed, and timber. The Center's team approach to creative problem solving has resulted in some unique and innovative projects.

Centennial Council Jamboree

A Unique Teaching Opportunity

Saturday May 22

Frank Bonelli Park

120 Via Verde, San Dimas, CA 91773

A century of the finest outdoor and leadership experience a boy could have! This tradition lives on at the pinnacle of the 100th Anniversary of Scouting—the 2010 Centennial Council Jamboree. Yesterday merges with tomorrow at the greatest Scouting event of the century. It is the opportunity of a lifetime, one you will never forget. DON’T MISS OUT on this special moment in time!

Click here to view the meeting flyer.

Any questions? Please contact Dave Whitney at 818-890-5720 or dwhitney@fire.lacounty.gov

2010 Update - Welcome Chair David Whitney!

Please join the Executive Committee in welcoming David Whitney as the SoCal SAF Chair for 2010. David works for the Forestry Division (currently assigned to the Vegetation Management Program) of the Los Angeles County Fire Department and has been a member of SAF since 1991. He was elected to the position of Chair-elect last year and has been an active member of the Executive Committee since then.

The Executive Committee would also like to thank outgoing Chair Martin Gubrud for his two years of service in that role. With the relocation of 2008 Chair-elect Scott Eckhardt to northern California, Martin graciously agreed to serve a second term at the helm.

Check back periodically as the Executive Committee has plans underway for the 2010 Spring and Fall Meetings in San Dimas and at Mt. Wilson, respectively. We will also be posting information for the Chapter meetings as they become available.

Here is the Executive Committee for 2010:

David Whitney - Chair
TBD - Chair-elect
Tamara Hanna - Treasurer, Membership & Awards Chair
Samantha Conn - Secretary
Martin Gubrud - Past Chair
J Lopez - Communications Chair & Newsletter Editor
John Todd - Continuing Education Chair
Doug Nickles - Historian & San Gabriel Chapter Chair
Fritz Koepp - Policy Chair
Doug Piirto - Science/Technology Chair
TBD - Los Padres Chair
TBD - Cal Poly Student Chair
Jeff Reimer - Webmaster
John Bryant - Los Padres Member at Large
Open - Inland Empire Member at Large
Open - San Diego Member at Large

Feel free to contact any of the Executive Committee members if you have an interest in serving on the Committee.