Contact Person:
Martha Espinosa
Greater Sierra Forestry Corps
559-490-7160
559-353-0405 (cell)
Greater Sierra Forestry Corps Awarded $2.5 Million ($2,500,000.00)
to Expand Forestry Training Program to Columbia College
New resources from the State of California have been awarded to address the problem of dead and dying trees in the Mother Lode Region and the Southern Sierras. The California Workforce Development Board (CWDB) has awarded the Greater Sierra Forestry Corps a $2.5 million ($2,500,000.00) High Road Training Partnership (HRTP) grant to train “Forestry Fuel Management Technicians.”
Greater Sierra Forestry Corps, in partnership with Mother Lode Job Training and Columbia College, will be hosting the HRTP $2.5 million Check Presentation on Monday, May 15, 2023 at 2 p.m. at Columbia College-Carkeet Community Park (11600 Columbia College Dr, Sonora, CA 95370) with an Orientation at 3:30 p.m. for prospective students.
Greater Sierra Forestry Corps is a partnership of private industry, workforce agencies, community colleges, organized labor, and environmental organizations committed to bringing additional resources to train new workers to deal with the ever-growing problem of dead and dying trees in the Greater Sierras. Partners include Mother Lode Job Training, Columbia College, Sierra Resource Management, Yosemite Adult School, CalFIRE Local 2881, National Federation of Federal Employees: Forest Service Council 2995, Associated California Loggers, Sierra Pacific Industries, TuCare, Tuolumne River Trust, Yosemite Stanislaus Solutions, Sierra Resource Conservation District.
The Greater Sierra Forestry Corps will expand its best-practice model of providing crucial forestry and fuels management training from Reedley College to Columbia College. Columbia College trainees will be drawn from the whole Mother Lode region, including, but not limited to Amador, Calaveras, Mariposa, and Tuolumne counties. This training is vital to decrease the number of Wildfires in California. According to CalFIRE, Wildfire Statistics (CalFIRE and Federal) as of November 28, 2022 there have been 7,490 fires that have burned over 362,455 acres.
Check Presentation
Date: Monday, May 15, 2023
Time: 2 p.m.-3 p.m.
Location: Columbia College - Carkeet Community Park
(11600 Columbia College Dr, Sonora, CA 95370)
Orientation at 3:30p.m. for prospective students.
Representatives from Greater Sierra Forestry Corps, Mother Lode Job Training (MLJT), forestry corps graduates, Associated California Loggers, and Columbia College will be available for interviews. We hope that we can count on you to share this important information about funding for upcoming forestry training opportunities.