Summer Class: Fire, Water and Conservation in the Northern Sierra Nevada
Study at the SF State Sierra Nevada Field Campus
August 4 - 9, 2024
The goal of the course GEOG 655: Fire, Water and Conservation in the Northern Sierra Nevada, taught by Michael Vasey at the Sierra Nevada Field Campus, is to introduce students and others to the theory and practice of conservation and rehabilitation of fire-prone Sierra Nevada forests impacted by post-settlement logging, fire-exclusion, fluvial/wetland modification, and other related landscape disturbances. Forest ecology, its relationship to fire, and links with the water-scape will be explored. Land-use history of the North Yuba Watershed from what is known about indigenous tribal cultural management to post-settlement impacts following the Gold Rush will also be reviewed. This review will provide the context in which to appreciate the current threats to the watershed due to the risk of wildfire. The workshop will involve lectures, guest lectures, field trips, field design and possibly some field sampling experience.