2024 Rogue Valley Ecological Forestry Training Program Launches

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Published January 26, 2024

Lomakatsi is excited to launch the fourth session of our Ecological Forestry Training & Employment Program this week, funded by Oregon Conservation Corps (Oregon Youth Works)!

This cohort brings together 10 young adults (ages 18-26) from Jackson County who have dedicated the next 18 weeks to learning the ins-and-outs of forest restoration. Led by Lomakatsi’s restoration forestry and fire professionals, they’ll earn nationally recognized certifications and gain hands-on experience in ecological fuels mitigation, technical forestry, wildfire response and prescribed fire through collaborative projects across the Rogue Valley.

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Some of the projects they’ll contribute to include the Upper Rogue Oak Initiative (with Klamath Siskiyou Oak Network) where they worked this week, West Bear All-Lands Restoration Project (with Rogue Forest Partners), The The Ashland Forest Resiliency Stewardship Project, and Table Rocks. Here are some photos of crew leaders and participants during their first full day in the field Wednesday, working alongside Lomakatsi’s Rogue 3 crew that includes previous program session alumni, experienced sawyers, and field technicians. Program participants learned how to best preserve good wildlife habitat when piling hazardous fuels and help protect the legacy oak trees that are a focus species for conservation in UROI.

We’re grateful to be a Program Partner of this statewide effort to create fire-adapted communities and train the workforce of tomorrow, while bringing added capacity to collaborative forest health and fuels reduction projects around the Rogue Valley. Welcome to the new crew!