LAKE COUNTY >> East Lake RCD’s efforts to assist post-fire recovery by providing 100,000 native conifer seedlings to fire-ravaged private landowners received significant additional support last week from Damon and Jaime Matthews, owners of Walnut Creek Firewood.
As has been previously reported, the reforestation project got going with funding from the Lake County Rotary Club Association (LARCA) and #LakeCountyRising, a collaborative effort of the Lake County Wine Grape Commission, Winery Association, and Wine Alliance, which have allocated nearly $60,000 to get seedlings planted and ready for distribution in the 2016-17 winter planting season. It has also benefitted from an in-kind donation of more than 650 oaks and buckeyes from Mike Steen of Coyote Ridge Farms in Guerneville, These hardwood container trees, which received interim care from students at Lower Lake and Middletown High Schools and Kecia Stickney, owner of Frontier Farms on Highway 29 north of Middletown, have already been distributed to their forever homes.
Jaime Matthews relates how they got involved: “When we opened last September, it was our mission to be a give-back company. When we watched the Lake County fires ravage our neighboring land, we knew we wanted to help. So, as we help educate our customers about utilizing a cleaner fire system for their home, we want to help East Lake RCD with the reforestation efforts from last year’s fire.”
The Matthews have pledged to send a monthly check based on the number of fireplaces they sell, and accompanied their letter with an initial donation of $500. This additional funding will allow East Lake RCD to expand the conifer seedlng program to include special-purpose projects with additional student involvement, and possibly to organize a repeat of last winter’s hardwood distributions.
“Lake County lost an estimated seven million trees in last summer’s fires and it will take years to get them back,” says East Lake RCD President Charlotte Griswold, “but with the help of generous supporters like Damon and Jaime Matthews we’re taking a giant step down the road to recovery.”
