SACRAMENTO
CAL FIRE funds forest health and resiliency projects on forests throughout California
California’s Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) has awarded $67 million for landscape-scale land management projects intended to restore and maintain healthy forests, conserve working forests, and enhance carbon storage in California’s forests. The grants were awarded by CAL FIRE’s Forest Health and Forest Legacy Programs to local and regional partners and collaboratives implementing forest treatment and conservation activities on state, local, tribal, federal, and private lands. This year’s funded projects are distributed between 13 counties covering the length of California, from Siskiyou to San Diego.
CAL FIRE funded 17 Forest Health grants, targeting over 130,000 acres of California’s forestlands for restoration through a suite of activities. Activities include thinning dense and degraded forests; reducing hazardous fuel loads to change extreme fire behavior across the landscape; managing for drought, insects and disease; and applying prescribed fire for ecological restoration. Some of the overstocked forest material will be converted to bioenergy. Reforestation efforts will result in planting approximately 170,000 trees that will sequester carbon, provide habitat for wildlife, and stabilize soil in severely burned areas. Through a handful of these projects, CAL FIRE will make an investment in human capital, to ensure that a workforce is available and appropriately trained to staff new wood products and forestry operations needed in the state. Finally, research components on a portion of these projects will help gather information on best management practices and monitor the impact of forest treatment activities over time. CAL FIRE intends to announce the award of an additional $2,000,000 in stand-alone research projects in the next two months.
CAL FIRE’s Forest Legacy Program funded the establishment of conservation easements on three separate properties, totaling nearly 4,700 acres, in Humboldt County. The easements will protect these high-quality forestlands threatened with development and ensure the forests continue to provide for carbon storage and enduring natural resource, economic and recreational opportunities.
CAL FIRE’s Forest Health grants were made available through California Climate Investments (CCI), a statewide program that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars toward achieving the state’s climate change goals while also strengthening the economy and improving public health and the environment-particularly in disadvantaged communities. Since taking office, Governor Newsom has directed a significant investment in proactive forestland health maintenance, fire prevention and climate resiliency. The Governor has made available $1 billion over the next five years, beginning this year, for the purpose of active forestland management. Within the next month, CAL FIRE expects to award up $45 million from CCI for fire prevention projects.
—Submitted
Students should take FAFSA verification seriously
Financial Aid Tip of the Month, February 2020
The federal government requires many students who submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to verify the information included on the FAFSA. The students requiring verification are chosen by the U.S. Department of Education.
Used to apply for most federal and many state student aid programs, the FAFSA asks detailed questions about the income and financial resources of students. The parents of dependent students must also provide that information. Students are considered dependent if they are undergraduates under 24 years old, not married, have no dependents, are not veterans, or were not orphans or wards of the court until age 19.
The college or an agency working with the school will let students know if their information is being verified.
Students and parents need to take this process seriously, according to KHEAA. Students chosen for verification cannot receive their financial aid until they complete the verification process. As soon as they are contacted, they should provide any information that is required. Putting it off will only lead to frustration if the process isn’t finished when classes are ready to start.
If students who have been asked for verification decide not to attend a college, they should let the college know so it will stop requesting information.
KHEAA is a public, non-profit agency established in 1966 to improve students’ access to college. It provides information about financial aid and financial literacy at no cost to students and parents.
KHEAA also helps colleges manage their student loan default rates and verify information submitted on the FAFSA. For more information about those services, visit www.kheaa.com.
In addition, KHEAA disburses private Advantage Education Loans for its sister agency, KHESLC. For more information about Advantage Education Loans, visit www.advantageeducationloan.com.
—Submitted
KELSEYVILLE
Lake County Democratic Central Committee meets Thursday
The Lake County Democratic Central Committee will hold its regular monthly business meeting on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020.
The meeting takes place at 6:30 p.m. at Kelseyville Event Center, 5245 3rd St, Kelseyville.
The agenda for the meeting includes reports from representatives for Congressmen Mike Thompson and John Garamendi, Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry and State Senator Mike McGuire.
Meetings are open to the public and committee membership is open to all registered Democrats.
The Lake County Democratic Central Committee is the official governing body for the Democratic Party in Lake County.
For more information about the Democratic Party in Lake County visit www.lakecountydemocrats.org or www.facebook.com/LakeCountyDemocrats .
Contact the Democratic Party of Lake County at 707-533-4885 or by email at democratsoflakecounty@gmail.com .
