Vulnerability Assessment
A project of Sierra CAMP, the Sierra Nevada Regional Climate Vulnerability Assessment will help Sierra Nevada communities prepare for climate change by examining social, economic, and environmental vulnerabilities specific to our region and by providing climate planning technical assistance.
Lessons in Capacity: How Bold Climate Policy Plays Out at a Local Level
For fear of sounding like a broken record, I will skip over the detailed account of how my fellowship/life is not exactly as I expected it to be, thanks to the pandemic. It’s 2021 but you could also call it December 56th, 2020. It didn’t become a brand new world January 1st, we are still wearing masks, working from home in our sweatpants, and trying to avoid refreshing the news. At the same time, I have been pondering the beauty of my unexpected journey to CivicSpark and SBC.
2020 in the Rearview Mirror
I know I am not the only one glad to leave 2020 in the dust. At Sierra Business Council we talk a lot about turning challenges into opportunities, about implementing actionable steps that don’t just temporarily solve one-off problems but offer alternative ways of doing business, interacting with the environment, and existing in the Sierra to eradicate what causes those problems in the first place. As an organization, we’re proactive rather than reactive, and our goal is to build a region that is as well.
No one saw 2020 coming, though. Over the course of the last year, everyone has been asked to react to the unexpected, the unimaginable.
Understanding our Vulnerabilities—And Our Choices—in the Sierra
Sierra CAMP, a program of Sierra Business Council, is currently undertaking a regional vulnerability assessment to examine how Sierra Nevada communities will be affected by projected climate changes. We have already seen the massive impact that climate change can have in its multiple forms on our communities in the mountains.
Climate Resilience
Climate Resilience Sierra Business Council works to increase the region’s ability to withstand the impacts of climate change, advocating for policies that address climate impacts at the state, regional, and local level. Climate change increasingly threatens the health, welfare, and safety of all Californians. While the state has made tremendous strides to reduce greenhouse gas […]
Forest Health & Wildfire Mitigation
Forest Health & Wildfire MItigation Wildfire, drought, tree mortality, distressed watersheds: each of these events affect the communities, economy, and environment of the Sierra Nevada. Our forests are in dire straights, overcrowded and undernourished following a century of fire suppression practices implemented with the best of intentions, with no silver bullet in sight. The forest […]
Affordable & Achievable Housing
AFfordable & Achievable Housing Sierra Business Council is dedicated to weighing in on housing policy in legislative, budgetary, funding, and policy implementation in an effort to find solutions to the affordable housing crisis in the region. Amidst a housing crisis occurring across the western U.S., the Sierra Nevada’s housing availability, or lack thereof, is unique. […]
Sierra Nevada Fibershed and Yarn Crawl
Outside of my role on SBC’s Climate and Energy team, I am also a small business owner and actively involved in the fiber arts community of the Sierra Nevada, designing knitting patterns and working with locally produced yarn. Over the years my two worlds – climate planning and knitting – have become increasingly intertwined, thanks to a concept called FIbershed.
You don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone: Honoring Nevada City’s Independence Trail
This old saying perfectly describes my realization of how special the Independence Trail was for our community. Lighting struck repeatedly throughout the night on August 17th, igniting dry fuel in our foothills refuge of Nevada City and across the state of California.
Change and Challenge Bring Opportunity
Communities in the Sierra Nevada have weathered many storms over the years, most recently the local impacts of climate change, catastrophic wildfire, drought and reduced snowpack, Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) events, wide-sweeping homeowner insurance policy cancellations, closing businesses, and a devastating global pandemic.