Several of our staff were recently awarded by CAL FIRE for Superior Accomplishment for their emergency post-fire mapping efforts during the tragic Thomas fire and ensuing mudslide in Montecito last year. The Thomas fire started on December 4, 2017. It ignited on the south-facing hillslopes along State Route 150 above Santa Paula, and burned west…
DOC Announces $1.9 Million Available to Hire Forest Health Watershed Coordinators
If you could invest one dollar and get $7 back, you’d probably jump on it, right? That’s why we at the Department of Conservation (DOC) are excited about the reactivation of a program that allows local entities to hire forest health watershed coordinators. A “watershed” is an area where all the water running off the…
Oil & Gas Engineers Double as Feline Heroes
Typically, being an oil and gas engineer means handling complex hydrocarbon and geothermal technology, crunching environmental data, using a high level of analytical skill. Sometimes, the job also includes handling fuzzy little kittens. On a usual weekday last month, Brian Tillquist , a field engineer for the oil, gas, and geothermal resources division (DOGGR), and…
Fire and Rain … and Debris Flows
Fire and Rain … and Debris Flows That’s what happened last January in Santa Barbara County. One of California’s largest wildfires, the Thomas Fire, was nearly 100 percent contained after five weeks. Two people died and more than 1,000 structures burned. Flames torched 281,893 acres. Then a band of thunderstorms arrived the morning of January…
It’s California Bat Week – October 24-31, 2018
It’s California Bat Week October 24-31, 2018. Bats are one of the most important animals in our environment. With more than 1,300 different species in the world, bats are diverse in both how they look and how they keep ecosystems balanced. While they might be creepy, bats are vital to a healthy environment. One bat…
The World’s Largest Earthquake Drill
Are You Ready to ShakeOut? With 318 million people living and working in the United States, a major earthquake could cause unprecedented devastation. What we do now, before a big earthquake, will determine how well we survive and recover. Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drills in October 2017 involved more than 56.2 million participants through broad-based outreach…
Department of Conservation Launches Audience-Focused Website and Logo
DOC relaunches conservation.ca.gov with a new website built to connect visitors to the wealth of natural resource data and services they use most.
October is “Earthquake Month” at the California Department of Conservation
Here’s a look at what’s shakin’: Sunday, October 21: 150th Anniversary of the Hayward Fault earthquake On October 21, 1868, an earthquake estimated to be between magnitude 6.8 and 7.0 in strength tore the ground open from Milpitas to San Leandro with major damage in Hayward, San Leandro, Oakland, and San Francisco. The Fremont Mission San…
From Serving the Country to Conserving It — GIS is Key
“I am passionate about conserving natural resources and working to slow the rate at which California urbanizes productive farmland and open space. The Williamson Act is a key tool to achieve that goal.” Annie Giovacchini – Environmental Planner #FacesOfConservation — Meet Ann Marie (Annie) Giovacchini, an environmental planner for DOC’s Division of Land Resource Protection. Annie…
Ensuring Agricultural Resilience in an Era of Climate Change
California is an agricultural powerhouse, leading the nation in both total and diversity of production.
However, as climate change increasingly threatens agricultural production, there is reason for concern about food security in California and around the world.