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- Written by: Editor
More than 1,600 men and women have signed up to be seasonal firefighters this season alone.
The importance of these seasonal firefighters has also grown exponentially over the last decade with the loss of 4,000 inmate firefighter positions.
Even with the increased importance of these 10-month seasonal firefighter positions, these brave men and women aren’t protected under the same workplace laws, or the Firefighter Bill of Rights, as their full time peers. This is in spite of the fact that seasonal and full time firefighters perform the same work.
This has now changed with the passage of Sen. Mike McGuire’s SB 206. This groundbreaking bill extends workplace protections under the Firefighter Bill of Rights to the 1,600 hardworking seasonal firefighters who are keeping California safe.
“Seasonal firefighters are doing the same backbreaking work as their full-time peers. They put themselves in harm’s way fighting the largest wildfires in American history and are on the front lines protecting our communities and saving lives. It’s past time for the state to provide equal protections for equal work,” Sen. McGuire said. “We are grateful to Gov. Newsom for signing this critical bill and are forever grateful for the hardworking men and women protecting our state from wildfires.”
The original Firefighter Bill of Rights, passed in 2007, authorizes key workplace protections for full-time firefighters in the state of California.
Seasonal firefighters, who work side by side with their full-time counterparts year after year have not been afforded these basic and crucial protections under the Firefighter Bill of Rights.
Under SB 206, seasonal firefighters, after their first year of working a season, will be included in the protections provided in the Firefighters Bill of Rights.
“California has become more reliant on seasonal firefighters over the last many years as the Golden State’s fire season has exploded: in 2020, more than 4 million acres — 4% of the land in California — burned in a record-setting year. This bill is a critical step in the right direction to protect seasonal firefighters who are protecting our communities,” Sen. McGuire said.
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- Written by: Editor
This lecture by Alicia Hamann, executive director of Friends of the Eel River, will cover the past, present and future of the Eel River watershed.
The Eel River watershed covers a large section of northwestern California, encompassing parts of six counties, from Lake County in the southeast to Humboldt County in the northwest.
The headwaters of the mainstem of the Eel River are in the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument.
Specifically, the lecture will be discussing the Potter Valley Project — the two dams and diversion in the headwaters of the Eel River undergoing a relicensing process.
This relicensing process could result in the removal of at least one of the dams and some very big changes for the Pillsbury basin region.
This lecture will be online in a Zoom meeting and registration is required. Please register with this link.
Registered participants will be sent an email with login information. If you're registered, you'll also be sent a link to a recording of the lecture even if you were not able to attend.
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- Written by: Mendocino National Forest
MENDOCINO NATIONAL FOREST, Calif. — Weekend storms have triggered a landslide on Forest Road M1 at Bar Creek, about three miles north of the Eel River Work Center.
Forest officials have closed the road to assess damage and plan repairs.
Officials ask visitors and residents to avoid traveling in the area.
To reach areas north of the landslide, the alternate route is to take Forest Road M4 north to Forest Road M2. From M2, take Forest Road 23N39 (Espee Ridge Road) west.
The route will add approximately two hours of driving time, and conditions of those roads are unknown at this time.
In areas where a wildfire has occurred, significant rainfall and wind create hazards. Roads within the August Complex and Ranch Fire areas are subject to falling trees, landslides, rockfall, erosion, debris flows and flooding.
All visitors should be aware of the hazards of traveling through a burned area and prepare for an alternate route in case roads become impassable.
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- Written by: Editor
This is one of many recent steps USDA has taken to ensure California residents in need have food to eat.
Rather than require SNAP households to report food losses individually, USDA allowed the state of California to approve automatic mass replacements for residents in certain zip codes in 14 counties who lost food as a result of the extreme wind and public safety power shutoffs.
The waiver applies to 18 zip codes in the following 14 counties: Amador, Colusa, Fresno, Glenn, Kern, Lake, Mariposa, Monterey, Napa, San Luis Obispo, Santa Cruz, Tehama, Tuolumne and Yolo.
More details will be made available through the California Department of Social Services.
SNAP participants in areas hardest hit by the disaster may have a portion of their October benefits replaced. SNAP recipients residing in other affected areas may request replacement benefits by filing an affidavit with the local office attesting to disaster-related loss.
The SNAP mass replacements announcement is the latest in a battery of USDA actions taken to help California residents cope with the wildfires that began on July 20, 2021, and its aftermath, such as:
— Approving Disaster SNAP to allow eligible participants in six counties (Lassen, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Tehama, and Trinity) to purchase groceries at SNAP-authorized stores or from select retailers online to meet their temporary food needs as they settle back home following the disaster.
— Approving a waiver to allow SNAP participants in nine counties (Butte, Glenn, Humboldt, Mendocino, Plumas, Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Trinity) to buy hot foods and hot food products prepared for immediate consumption with their benefits at authorized SNAP retailers statewide through Oct. 28, 2021.
— Approving a timely reporting waiver for affected households in Shasta County through Oct. 22, 2021, allowing affected residents more time to notify the state of food lost as a result of the Fawn Fire that began on Sept. 22, 2021.
Individuals seeking more information about this and other available aid should dial 2-1-1. For more information about California SNAP, visit https://www.cdss.ca.gov/food-nutrition/calfresh .