After years of careful planning and a tremendous amount of collaboration, 2025 marked the first year of implementation of the Eastern Sierra Climate and Communities Resilience Project: a critical milestone that we are proud to celebrate!
From May through November, crews worked to restore forest health and reduce hazardous fuels across the first 1,143 acres of the 65,000 acre project area.
What We Accomplished
Work in 2025 focused on high priority areas, addressing critical issues including:
- Reducing hazardous fuels surrounding communities and infrastructure in Mammoth Lakes, including the Mammoth Knolls, Old Mammoth, and the Scenic Loop
- Addressing bark beetle infestations and tree mortality in the Lakes Basin
- Reducing ladder fuels that increase the risk of high-severity fire, including in old-growth stands of Jeffrey pine around the Sherwin Lakes Trailhead (Voorhis Unit)
- Reducing and piling high quantities of standing dead trees and coarse woody debris on Panorama Dome
Thanks to a mild winter and a long implementation season, we were able to achieve a majority of our goals and make significant progress towards addressing threats to forest health and community resilience.
Looking Ahead
Ongoing monitoring of project areas is part of Whitebark’s plan to ensure our forest health treatments are effective and to adapt our approach to meet new challenges. We’ll continue to conduct drone surveys of post-treatment areas to measure the health of the vegetation and assess how the areas are responding.
Downed woody debris not removed from treatment sites has been piled and will remain in place for two years to cure, after which it will be burned during winter when conditions are safest. We’re thrilled to announce that we’ve been able to fund prescribed burning across the Inyo National Forest in 2025 and 2026, including in parts of Reds Meadow where piles are ready to burn.
Throughout the busy implementation season, the Forest Health team was also hard at work planning for 2026, taking the necessary action to prepare for work on the ground next year. Those efforts will build upon the work completed this summer, addressing priority acres surrounding Mammoth Lakes and building continuity in treatments across the landscape.
To learn a bit about work planned for 2026 and to stay tuned on project updates, visit our post on implementation scheduled for 2026.