CLOVIS—The Sierra National Forest, Bass Lake Ranger District, is set to begin its 2023 reforestation program. During the next two months, contract crews will be planting approximately 1000 acres focusing on areas of the 2014 French/2020 Creek Fires. Approximately 200 to 260 seedlings per acre will be planted, totaling up to 230,000 in the district during this period. Openings will be planted with a mixture of ponderosa pine, incense cedar, and sugar pine seedlings.
Foothill residents in the North Fork/Oakhurst/Mariposa area are welcome to participate in the spring planting program by planting ponderosa pine seedlings on their property. The Bass Lake Ranger District North Fork office has bare-root one-year-old ponderosa pine seedlings available for adoption. These seedlings are in excess of the district reforestation program this year. Persons wishing to adopt seedlings may obtain 5 to 20 at a time from the Sierra National Forest’s Bass Lake Ranger District office in North Fork, California.
To minimize moisture and heat stress, seedlings should be kept cool and transported in an ice chest with the roots covered with a moist towel and planted the same day, when possible. Instructions on how to plant them will be included during your pickup. These seedlings are meant to be planted on private property.
Go Green! Plant a Seedling Today!
Seedlings are grown from seeds picked a number of years in advance by the Forest Service and stored at Forest Service nurseries. To accomplish large reforestation objectives, seedlings are ordered one to two years in advance of planting. Trees being planted were grown at the Placerville nursery. The blister rust-resistant sugar pine being planted is grown as one-year-old containerized stock. These seedlings are grown in tubes measuring about 1” by 6” in greenhouses.
The Bass Lake Ranger District office in North Fork, 57003 Road 225 North Fork, CA, is open Monday through Friday between the hours of 8 am and 4:30 pm.
For more information on seedling adoption, please get in touch with the North Fork office at 559- 877-2218.
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USDA, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of Adjudication
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