The Watershed Research and Training Center

The Watershed Research and Training Center The Watershed Center works to promote a healthy forest and a healthy community. Our work is based on We employ up to 45 people during our field season.
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Our work is based on investing in the capacity of our community to steward the local landscape.

Whoa, look out! We’re talking about the Townsend’s Big-eared Bat this !This bat is found broadly across the American We...
06/17/2026

Whoa, look out! We’re talking about the Townsend’s Big-eared Bat this !

This bat is found broadly across the American West and forms maternity roosts, like the one pictured here, in ideal temperature and humidity conditions to rear their young. Roosts are usually established between March and May and pups are born from May to July. Female bats have one pup per year, and these small mammals are able to fly by their third week of life.

As their name suggests, they have giant ears that can be up to 38 millimeters long, reaching the middle of their body when folded and tucked in. These ears give them a keen sense of hearing, help them regulate their body temperature, and even assist during flight.

These agile fliers consume moths and other insects but face pressure from humans directly killing them or destroying/disturbing roosts. Some folks might find bats scary, but they have an important place in the ecosystem!

Have you stumbled upon a maternity roost or seen a Townsend’s Big-eared Bat flying in the night sky?

Have you signed up for our Wildfire Resilience quarterly newsletter yet? Get California-specific wildfire resilience new...
06/16/2026

Have you signed up for our Wildfire Resilience quarterly newsletter yet?

Get California-specific wildfire resilience news right to your inbox by clicking the link in the comments below. The next edition is coming out tomorrow - don't miss it!

06/15/2026

It’s Meet the Watershed Center Monday!

Josh Smith, Watershed Stewardship Program Director, takes us to a sweeping mountain vista to tell us about tangible benefits resulting from direct restoration work throughout Trinity County.

Well, folks, that’s a wrap on the 2026 Yellow Star Thistle TREX! We completed all of our work in Deerlick Springs today ...
06/13/2026

Well, folks, that’s a wrap on the 2026 Yellow Star Thistle TREX! We completed all of our work in Deerlick Springs today with the help of Hayfork Volunteer Fire Department, Hyampom Volunteer Fire Department, and local PBA members.

This training brought ample opportunities for people to grow and advance into higher positions in the fire world while leading up and sideways. Everyone had something to learn and something to share.

This year, we meshed well together and completed 21 burn units in 10 days! After the flames were extinguished and the smoke cleared, the TREX took a quick swim in the creek and returned to camp to thoroughly clean, inventory, repair, rehab, and wash the Watershed Center fire engines. Working as a team, we made three type 6 engines, two type 7 engines, two UTVs, and two ATVs sparkle. It was a joy to tend our local meadows and care for the equipment that makes this work safe and successful. Tomorrow we will rigorously and thoroughly clean the dining hall, restrooms, and north campground of the Hayfork Fairgrounds!

Everyone has a role to play in stewarding our lands! We are grateful to our many partners, funders, supporters, and participants and will share our final statistics in an extensive list of thank-yous in the near future. For now, we bid, “See you later!” to our participants and look forward to crossing paths with members of our fire family in the coming years.

Thank you, Hayfork, Hyampom, and Douglas City. Thank you for everything and the TREX will see you next year!

Funding for this project was provided by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection as part of the California Climate Investments Program, the USDA US Forest Service Community Wildfire Defense Grant Program, and through a Regional Forest and Fire Capacity grant awarded by the California Department of Conservation.



CAL FIRE, California Climate Investments, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Forest Service - Shasta-Trinity National Forest, California Department of Conservation

Heads up, Hayfork and Douglas City! The Yellow Star Thistle TREX had a stellar day burning the final two units of Cedar ...
06/12/2026

Heads up, Hayfork and Douglas City! The Yellow Star Thistle TREX had a stellar day burning the final two units of Cedar Gulch with support from Hayfork Volunteer Fire Department, Hyampom Volunteer Fire Department, and local PBA members. That means we safely applied fire to 15 units in that specific basin and to date have burned 20 units in nine days!

Tomorrow we return to Deerlick Springs to finish what we started last Friday and fill in the blackline we’ve laid around the property. It will be hot and dry again tomorrow, so we will get another early start. Douglas City residents in the Deerlick Springs area can expect to see smoke from our ignitions tomorrow, June 12th, between 8:00 and 11:00 AM.

It has been an incredible TREX with a strong team whose initiative, tenacity, and cooperation has made this important work a reality. Thank you for all of the thumbs-up, high-fives, hoots, hollers, and cheers in town. We are honored to have had this opportunity to help restore good fire to lands that need and want it. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Funding for this project was provided by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection as part of the California Climate Investments Program, the USDA US Forest Service Community Wildfire Defense Grant Program, and through a Regional Forest and Fire Capacity grant awarded by the California Department of Conservation.



CAL FIRE, California Climate Investments, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Forest Service - Shasta-Trinity National Forest, California Department of Conservation

The Yellow Star Thistle TREX successfully burned 1.5 units today with help from Hayfork Volunteer Fire Department, Hyamp...
06/11/2026

The Yellow Star Thistle TREX successfully burned 1.5 units today with help from Hayfork Volunteer Fire Department, Hyampom Volunteer Fire Department, and local PBA members! As the temperature rose and relative humidity dropped, our burn window narrowed and we completed ignitions shortly after noon. We will split the team in two to revisit the partially burned unit where we created anchors at several corners tomorrow and burn the final unit in our Cedar Gulch burn plan.

The YST TREX will continue operations tomorrow, June 11th. We will have an even shorter burn window and will begin our day even earlier. Residents can expect to see smoke rising north of Hyampom Road from approximately 8:00 to 11:00 AM.

This TREX has been amazing so far and we hope this work helps keep the community safe and makes a massive dent in combatting YST. Thank you for following along!

Photos by Andrea Dunlap.

Funding for this project was provided by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection as part of the California Climate Investments Program, the USDA US Forest Service Community Wildfire Defense Grant Program, and through a Regional Forest and Fire Capacity grant awarded by the California Department of Conservation.



CAL FIRE, California Climate Investments, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Forest Service - Shasta-Trinity National Forest, California Department of Conservation

ATTENTION: If you have hiked, biked, rode, or swam in Trinity County, in the past year, please fill out our Trinity Coun...
06/10/2026

ATTENTION: If you have hiked, biked, rode, or swam in Trinity County, in the past year, please fill out our Trinity County Trails Survey!

The Watershed Research and Training Center, UC Cooperative Extension, and Trinity County Development Corp are conducting research to evaluate the impact of outdoor recreation on the local economy. The project will provide a tool for land managers, local organizations, businesses, governments, and the community at large to improve management and direct resources.

We are administering a general trail use survey, a lake based recreation survey, and a mountain biking specific survey. Please fill out only one survey based on your primary activity. Thank you for contributing to this effort to improve outdoor recreation in Trinity County and quantify its economic impact!

https://ucanr.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bkIxXQIPSz1uoiG

Can we get a “Woot woot!”? The Yellow Starthistle TREX completed 4 units in Cedar Gulch today, our seventh operational d...
06/10/2026

Can we get a “Woot woot!”? The Yellow Starthistle TREX completed 4 units in Cedar Gulch today, our seventh operational day in a row with fire on the ground! The Hayfork Volunteer Fire Department, Hyampom Volunteer Fire Department, and local PBA members helped us get it done and we are only three units away from completing the entirety of our current Cedar Gulch burn plan.

We have quite a few botany folks on our team this year and put in some good work to protect native milkweed in the units. Over time, we hope to see meadows bursting with native wildflowers, free of spiny noxious YST. Today was a big day in making progress toward that goal!

The YST TREX intends to burn two more units in Cedar Gulch tomorrow, June 10th. Residents can expect to see smoke rising north of Hyampom Road from approximately 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM.
Thank you for your love and support! We’ve had so many heart-touching moments with members of the community in the last week and we are immensely grateful to do this work.

Photos by Chad Manley.

Funding for this project was provided by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection as part of the California Climate Investments Program, the USDA US Forest Service Community Wildfire Defense Grant Program, and through a Regional Forest and Fire Capacity grant awarded by the California Department of Conservation.



CAL FIRE, California Climate Investments, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Forest Service - Shasta-Trinity National Forest, California Department of Conservation

Thank you, Hayfork, for embracing the Yellow Starthistle TREX as we continued operations today! We were watching our smo...
06/09/2026

Thank you, Hayfork, for embracing the Yellow Starthistle TREX as we continued operations today! We were watching our smoke and observed it reaching town before clearing out. With help from the Hayfork Volunteer Fire Department, Hyampom Volunteer Fire Department, and local PBA members, we burned 2.5 units in Cedar Gulch and saw very good fire effects, scorch killing the YST. The cooler temperatures and higher humidity allowed us to continue past noon, after a short tactical pause as light rain passed through. Spirits were high and we're happy with the work we accomplished today.

The YST TREX will continue burning in Cedar Gulch tomorrow, June 9th. Residents can expect to see smoke rising north of Hyampom Road and if the grasses dry out tonight, we will ignite from approximately 9:30 AM to noon. If our burn window remains open and conditions are favorable, we may extend operations past 12:00 PM.

We will continue to provide updates through these channels.

Funding for this project was provided by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection as part of the California Climate Investments Program, the USDA US Forest Service Community Wildfire Defense Grant Program, and through a Regional Forest and Fire Capacity grant awarded by the California Department of Conservation.

Photos taken by Andrea Dunlap.



CAL FIRE, California Climate Investments, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Forest Service - Shasta-Trinity National Forest, California Department of Conservation

Hello, all! Today the Yellow Starthistle TREX split into two crews and successfully burned four separate units. We were ...
06/08/2026

Hello, all! Today the Yellow Starthistle TREX split into two crews and successfully burned four separate units. We were joined by the Hayfork Volunteer Fire Department and Hyampom Volunteer Fire Department, as well as a few PBA members! Today’s fire effects were much more desirable, with thorough consumption of grass thatch and effective scorch kill of YST.

If you’re reading this post and you live in Hayfork, spread the word! Tell your friends that we are burning and share this information with them. We are so grateful to have the opportunity to apply fire to this landscape and earn the trust of community members with each successful burn.

The YST TREX will continue to burn in the Cedar Gulch area if conditions permit every day until Saturday, June 13th. Residents can expect to see smoke rising north of Hyampom Road tomorrow, June 8th, and the timeline of ignitions will depend upon the weather. Hayfork is forecasted to have increased cloud cover, lower temperatures, and higher relative humidity, which could lengthen our burn window beyond noon.

We will continue to provide updates through these channels.

Funding for this project was provided by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection as part of the California Climate Investments Program, the USDA US Forest Service Community Wildfire Defense Grant Program, and through a Regional Forest and Fire Capacity grant awarded by the California Department of Conservation.





CAL FIRE, California Climate Investments, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Forest Service - Shasta-Trinity National Forest, California Department of Conservation

Address

98 Clinic Avenue
Hayfork, CA
96041

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

Telephone

+15306284206

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