MARIPOSA– After another wet winter and above average snowpack, warming temperatures and winds are quickly drying out the abundant annual grass crop. The increasing fire danger posed by the high volume of dead grass and hotter, drier conditions in the region is prompting CAL FIRE to suspend all burn permits for outdoor residential burning within the State Responsibility Area of ...

SACRAMENTO–The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) Wood Products and Bioenergy Team awarded $14 million in new grant agreements this week. These projects will increase California’s capacity to establish healthy, resilient forests through workforce and business development. The 10 new awards (link to awards list) will go to non-profits, family businesses, wood products manufacturing facilities, and county ...

NORTH FORK–National Bioenergy Day is to be celebrated in the exact center of California, our very own  North  Fork. The Watershed Research &  Training Center, and Yosemite Sequoia Resource Conservation &  Development Council invite the public to see the development of the facility, hear and update, and take a tour to celebrate National Bioenergy Day on Wednesday, October 19th, from ...

MARIPOSA — California has already experienced an unusually early start to fire season amidst an ongoing drought and historically low rainfall and reservoir levels. While wildfires are a natural part of California’s landscape, the fire season in California and across the west is starting earlier and ending later each year. Warmer spring and summer temperatures, reduced snowpack, and earlier spring ...

CAL FIRE Suspends Residential Hazard Reduction Burn Permits in Madera, Mariposa and Merced Counties and Increases Fire Engine Staffing to “Peak” staffing levels Mariposa – The increasing fire danger posed by dead grass along with hotter and drier conditions in the region is prompting CAL FIRE Madera, Mariposa, Merced Unit (MMU) to suspend all burn permits for residential hazard reduction ...

CAL FIRE Announces Availability of Funding for Projects that Proactively Address Fire Prevention and Forest Health Sacramento – The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) announced the availability of up to $317 million for Forest Health, Fire Prevention, Forest Legacy and Forest Health Research grant projects. CAL FIRE is soliciting applications for projects that prevent catastrophic wildfires, ...

SACRAMENTO — Bill Johnson, the chief executive of PG&E, will step down after just 14 months on the job, the company announced Wednesday. Johnson, 66, was hired by the nation’s largest utility to rescue it from a financial crisis caused by a history of negligence and a reputation for putting profit over safety. His June 30 retirement announcement was not ...

AHWAHNEE — District 5 Supervisor Tom Wheeler thinks 2020 is going to be “another up year” for eastern Madera County. “The last two or three years have been really good ones for us,” Wheeler said this week from his ranch in Ahwahnee. “Our budget’s been up. Our economy is up. Unemployment is low. We’re among the top ten counties in ...

MOUNTAIN AREA — From progress on major new public and commercial projects to prosecution of high-profile criminal cases, 2019 was an eventful year in eastern Madera County. As 2020 dawns, here’s a look back at some of this year’s key stories. North Fork’s new roundabout: After several years of heated debate, Madera County’s first public roundabout was approved by the ...

NORTH FORK — The Sierra/Eastside Prioritization Working Group of the Governor’s Forest Management Task Force met Friday, August 9, in North Fork, for their monthly meeting to discuss project prioritization and collaborative conservation in the Sierra and Eastern California. After the meeting, participants were led on a walking tour of the North Fork Mill Site by American Forests’ California State ...