There’s a prescribed burn planned for today near Laytonville. It’s set to run today and Saturday on lower Tenmile Creek, near Highway 101. The fire is part of the Eel River Recovery Project and is a collaboration between the landowners there and Cal Fire. There are also a handful of prescribed burns planned for Southern Humboldt and Northern Mendocino by the Humboldt County Prescribed Burn Association. They say they have burns planned from today through Tuesday October 15 in Leggett, Garberville, Briceland, and Honeydew.
If you’ve wondered what California has been doing to prevent wildfires, there is now a place you can look to see exactly where and how they are working on it. On Thursday the state revealed its Interagency Treatment Dashboard, the first of its kind in the US, which shows all of California’s wildfire fuel management projects. It’s not just CalFire but also federal, state, local, tribal, and private entities such the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Department of Defense and private timber companies. It includes data from 2021 through 2023 so far and shows in 2023, there were 700,000 acres treated for wildfire resilience. You can see it at https://interagencytrackingsystem.org. Meanwhile CalFire has launched a Fuel Treatment Effectiveness Dashboard which shows how treatments have affected fire behavior, evacuation routes and firefighting efforts.
There may not be another land sale for tax defaulted properties in Lake County anytime soon. State law allows counties to sell any properties where the taxes are six years past due. The Record Bee reports at their last meeting the Lake County Board of Supervisors got a presentation from the Lake County Tax Collector who said a new sale would include properties that didn’t sell last time they did this, leaving a total of more than 3,300 properties, most of which he says are “low value lots.” The Tax Collector says the land auctions cost the county hundreds of dollars and recommended against it.
Mendocino County’s Waldorf School will again be hosting their Enchanted Pumpkin Path on Halloween Night. The Enchanted Pumpkin Path offers a Halloween experience that has nothing scary and no refined-sugar so it’s geared toward all ages. They will have family friendly skits with some small gifts given out, and their Smokey Cauldron Café will have low-sugar, allergen-conscious treats. The Waldorf School says the event is so popular it scored a Gold Medal for Best Annual Event in the 2024 Best of Lake & Mendocino Awards. Enchanted Pumpkin Path is on October 31 from 430-8pm at Waldorf School of Mendocino County. Tickets are $10 on the school’s website.
Lakeport’s Mark Toney has been reappointed by the Governor’s Office to the State Bar of California Board of Trustees. The position requires Senate confirmation but Toney has held it since 2020. Lake County News reports Toney has been executive director of The Utility Reform Network since 2008 and prior to that was executive director of the Center for Third World Organizing and Direct Action for Rights and Equality. He was also lead organizer at Workers’ Association for Guaranteed Employment and is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Whistleblower Center.
If you’ve never voted before you may want to check out an event tomorrow at the Ukiah Branch Library. They are hosting a first-time voter education session Saturday from 1pm-2pm. It is a nonpartisan event that will include how to get registered, how to vote by mail and in-person and information about what’s on the ballot and how to learn more. Plus they will be holding a civics trivia game with prizes and they’ll have some snacks. The Ukiah Branch Library is at 105 N. Main St.
