TuCare Summit Focuses On ‘Making Change Happen’

Photo by: BJ Hansen

Sonora, CA — The 2022 National Resources Summit hosted by the non-profit Tuolumne County Alliance For Resources and the Environment (TuCare) has been taking place today at the Mother Lode Fairgrounds.

The doors opened at 8am and this year’s theme is “Making Change Happen.” A big focus has surrounded improving the health of the forest and related economic opportunities.

TuCare President Randy Hanvelt welcomed everyone and spoke about the 2013 Rim Fire that consumed over 257,000 acres. He notes that emissions from the fire, based on various estimates, could range anywhere from the equivalent of 2.3 million cars per year, up to 18.4 million.

He said, “If you believe that humans can make a difference in the climate issues of today, forest health outweighs everything else by a huge factor. If you focus on making the forest healthy, it will make the biggest impact.”

He posed a challenge to the roughly 75 in attendance. Adding, “I want you to think about how you can make a difference, and be part of the solution. If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. Go home and find a way to help solve this problem.”

There was then a presentation from Anaiah Kirk, the chair of the Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors, who focused on “The Future of Tuolumne County.”

He stated, “Whether you agree with it or not, the Governor is taking actions on climate change,” and indicated that Tuolumne County needs to be proactive, notably around the forestry issue.  He stated that there are various positive investments coming online in the forest product industry. Adding, “Instead of just letting those (fuels in the forest) potentially burn, let’s pull them out of the forest, convert them into energy, and that way we can tap into something and convert it into energy.”

Kirk was followed by a panel of speakers focused on forestry jobs.

One of the speakers was Kevin Cann, Vice President of Golden State Natural Resources, which is planning to open a large-scale biomass facility on J-59 at the former SPI Keystone plant. He announced that they plan to break ground in October of 2023 and begin operations in January of 2025. Production will gradually scale up over the course of the first year.

Columbia College President Lena Tran was also a speaker, who said the college should become a destination for forestry and fire management students because of the various programs it offers, and the college can be an “economic driver for the community and the state.”

Other panelists were Dave Thoeny with Mother Lode Workforce Development, Matt King, the Director of Sales and Innovation with Heartwood Biomass, Blake Konczal with the Fresno Workforce Commission, and Tom Hobby, the President of Yosemite Clean Energy.

A later panel focused on the Master Stewardship Agreement to increase the amount of forestry projects in the Stanislaus National Forest, featuring Forest Supervisor Jason Kuiken, Tuolumne River Trust Executive Director Patrick Koepele and Tuolumne County Senior Administrative Analyst Liz Peterson.

All of the panelists took complex topics and explained them in easy-to-understand, and relatable, ways.

The Keynote Address is being delivered by Jim Peterson, founder of the Evergreen Foundation, with a speech entitled, “What do you want from your Forest?”

The forum is wrapping up at this noon hour. The organization also hosted a natural resources tour on Thursday.