One Tam Partners Release 10-year Forest Health Strategy for Marin

By Science Communication Specialist Michela Gentile and Senior Project Manager Danny Franco, Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy

November 2023 - Forest and woodland comprise over a third of Marin County, and they’re essential: they have cultural value, and provide clean air, drinking water, recreational opportunities, habitat for diverse species, and more. But forests face threats such as climate change, lack of beneficial fire, invasive plants, and diseases. The unpredictable fire seasons we've experienced have underscored the need for healthy and resilient forests.

Forests and woodlands comprise over a third of Marin County, and they’re essential. For starters, they have cultural value, and provide clean air, drinking water, recreational opportunities, and habitat for diverse species.

Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy / Michela Gentile

In response to this need, the One Tam partners (Marin County Parks, Marin Water, California State Parks, National Park Service, and Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy) recently published the Marin Regional Forest Health Strategy, a new model for understanding and caring for forests collaboratively at a meaningful scale in Marin County. They worked with the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, fire agencies, scientists, and consultants to study the current condition of our forests, threats to their health, and how we can prioritize collaborative action to restore them.

The Marin Regional Forest Health Strategy achieves the following new and necessary pieces for protecting forests:

• Describes the current condition of key forest communities in Marin County, and how to address threats that currently impact them
• Uses best available data, local knowledge, and expert analysis to identify how and where agencies can make a difference for forests, working both independently and together across jurisdictional boundaries
• Establishes a meaningful baseline to measure future changes in forests, through critical new datasets and methods to build upon
• Delivers a thoughtful path forward for projects and programs designed to protect and improve forest health and resilience in Marin County over the next decade, including a suite of implementation-ready projects

The Marin Regional Forest Health Strategy is a Regional Priority Plan funded by a grant from the California State Coastal Conservancy under the Department of Conservation’s Regional Forest and Fire Capacity Program to advance California’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan. The Regional Forest and Fire Capacity Program leverages California Climate Investments, a statewide program that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment—particularly in disadvantaged communities.

Explore the strategy plus more resources to learn about this work, including two tools containing data that underpin the strategy, at the links below.

Read the news release >>

Explore the strategy, plus more tools and activities >>

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