LAKE COUNTY >> The Lake County Community Risk Reduction Authority (RRA) Joint Powers Authority (JPA), in partnership with Lake County Resource Conservation District (RCD), who acted as Lead Agency, has been awarded $175,000 under The California Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation’s (LCI) Forest Sector Market Development Grant Program to modify the Lake County Risk Reduction Authority to manage forest biomass supplies at the regional level.
This exciting award stems from a Request for Applications (RFA) issued by LCI (formerly the Office of Planning and Research).
The primary objective of the project is to explore opportunities for how the RRA can increase its capacity to more effectively support wildfire resilience activities that generate woody biomass as a byproduct, and to support new and existing biomass utilizing businesses based in Lake County.
Through this project, Lake County RCD has contracted with experts in biomass utilization and aggregation, finance modeling, and legal practitioners to help reform the RRA to more effectively address local challenges associated with biomass removal, transportation, and utilization. The project’s grant term began on June 30, 2024, and will expire on March 31, 2026.
BACKGROUND
The RRA was formed in 2018 to support Lake County-wide efforts through effective use of the authority of local governments, implementation of programs offering low-or no-cost risk reduction resources to the public, development of funding to implement and maintain such programs. With the declaration of a local emergency for pervasive Tree Mortality due to drought and bark beetle infestation on May 3, 2022, the RRA committed to pursuing and advocating for waste woody biomass aggregation and utilization projects.
The steering committee for this grant project includes representatives from each RRA JPA member voting bloc, and includes Chief Mike Ciancio, Northshore Fire Protection District, Councilmember Russ Cremer, City of Clearlake, Kevin Ingram, City Manager for City of Lakeport, Tom Jordan, CEO of Scotts Valley Energy Corporation, Ben Murphy, Director of Cobb Area Water District, District 5 Supervisor Jessica Pyska, representing the Lake County Watershed Protection District and Terre Logsdon, Chief Climate Resiliency Officer/Tribal Liaison, representing the County of Lake. Megan McCluer Lopez, Financial Manager for the RCD, will be the Project Administrator and Co-Principal Investigator. Logsdon will serve as the other Co-Principal Investigator.
With this funding, the RRA will work with several consulting firms to achieve the RRA’s goals including: Camille Swezy of Mule Ears Consulting, LLC, will act as Project Manager, and will administer the agreement with LCI. In addition to these tasks, the project manager will also complete a Lake County Biomass Supply Assessment, which will assess current biomass-generating activities, biomass volume availability, and barriers related to the biomass supply chain and biomass utilization in Lake County.
The Blue Earth team of Eastern Research Group (ERG), led by Lindy Lowe, will identify funding streams to improve the long-term fiscal health of the RRA, to more sustainably accomplish local climate-related goals, including biomass utilization to support wildfire resilience treatments.
California Law Empowering Renewable Energy, Inc (CLERE, Inc), led by Christiana Darlington, will explore legal mechanisms, including modification of the RRA’s foundational documents and bylaws, for the RRA to enhance its capacity to support local biomass utilization efforts.
With the assistance of these expert consultants that have worked with the first round of biomass aggregation pilot projects in California, the RRA will join in supporting goals outlined in the state’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan Objective 3.10 to address feedstock barriers through pilot projects.
These goals are: Establish reliable access to woody feedstock through a variety of feedstock aggregation mechanisms. Improve feedstock supply chain logistics within each target region to aggregate and initiate long-term feedstock contracts. Explore and assess market opportunities of potential woody biomass businesses in each target region; especially where opportunity exists to produce community fire resilience benefits.
In addition to the $175,000 grant awarded to the Lake County Community Risk Reduction Authority (RRA), $649,350 in funding secured by the County of Lake through the Adaptation Planning Grant Program strengthens regional efforts to enhance climate resilience. The initiatives funded by the RRA, the Lake County RCD, and the County of Lake are strategically aligned to enhance climate resilience and address the pressing challenges of biomass management and climate adaptation in our region.
For further information on this important project, please contact Terre Logsdon, Chief Climate Resiliency Officer and Tribal Liaison at (707) 263-2580 or terre.logsdon at lakecountyca.gov
