Breadcrumb
Sustainable Forestry Projects
From Forest to Foundation: Building Workforce, Housing, and Resilience Through Local Timber
The Redwood Region faces a convergence of challenges: growing wildfire risk, housing shortages, high building costs, excess forest biomass, and workforce gaps in sustainable forestry and wood manufacturing. Three interconnected Catalyst projects — collectively forming the Timber and Workforce Development Initiative — tackle these challenges together, transforming locally available forest resources into economic opportunity, affordable housing, and community resilience, while honoring Traditional Ecological Knowledge and advancing California's climate goals.
Career Pathways: Fire, Forest, Fish & Facilities
Led by Trees Foundation | Collaborators: Mid Klamath Watershed Council, Mattole Restoration Council, Mattole Salmon Group, Native Health in Native Hands, Northern California Indian Development Council, Southern Humboldt Fire & Rescue, Tribal EcoRestoration Alliance, and others
Rural and Tribal communities across Lake, Mendocino, and Humboldt Counties have long lacked accessible pathways into the living-wage careers that surround them in the forests, watersheds, and working lands of the region. Career Pathways: Fire, Forest, Fish & Facilities addresses this directly — establishing local training hubs that bring paid, accessible certification programs in forestry, fire suppression, watershed restoration, and native plant restoration close to home, minimizing barriers like long commutes and lost wages.
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Training a Homegrown Wildfire and Restoration Workforce Rooted in Equity and Traditional Knowledge
The initiative is built on equity: prioritizing Tribal citizens, youth, rural residents, and low-income households, while honoring Native communities and fostering ecosystem restoration using fire for both cultural and ecological health. By October 2026, the project aims to train 200 individuals and place 50 in living-wage positions, with standardized curricula, clear career pathways, and employer partnerships for job placement.
Key Updates
The project issued 147 RT-130 firefighter certifications and strengthened regional training and documentation systems. Southern Humboldt Fire & Rescue was formally established as a Joint Powers Authority in December 2025, creating a durable structure for coordinating training, resource sharing, and workforce development across rural member agencies. In partnership with the Humboldt County Resource Conservation District, the project helped secure a $9.8 million USDA Community Wildfire Defense Grant supporting multi-year fuels reduction, prescribed fire, and community safety jobs. A 3-month Early Career Internship program was finalized, fisheries and restoration workforce capacity expanded through DIDSON sonar deployment and swift water rescue certification, and a Community Equity Coordinator was hired to expand access among Tribal and rural residents. For the latest, follow Trees Foundation’s Rural Resilience Partnership
Center for Sustainable Development
Led by Humbuildt Homes | Fiscal Sponsor: Playhouse Arts
Housing costs, construction workforce gaps, and the underuse of locally sourced natural materials are interconnected challenges across the Redwood Region. The Center for Sustainable Development addresses all three from a converted 7,000-square-foot warehouse in Arcata's Valley West neighborhood — building a trades education hub where prefabricated, low-carbon housing is designed, prototyped, and produced using local lumber and materials like hempcrete, with a specific focus on reaching Tribal, rural, and BIPOC communities.
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Building Green, Building Local: A Trades Education Hub for Sustainable Housing
During this pre-development phase (March–September 2026), the Center will hire core staff, finalize facility outfitting, and deliver a condensed series of hands-on workshops in sustainable construction, framing, and prefabrication — building on an existing partnership with United Indian Health Services and expanding outreach to Tribal housing departments and agricultural worker communities. Farmworker housing and small-scale ADU production will generate local revenue while creating pathways to thriving-wage careers in green building trades. Community events connect the Center to the broader regional network of artists, farmers, and builders it aims to serve.
Key Updates
Contracting was finalized in late February 2026, and the Center for Sustainable Development has since been busy facilitating planter bed, recycling, and building basics workshops that have engaged about 30 local community members — equipping participants with essential tool safety skills and woodworking principles. Their Builders Basic Workshop caught the attention of Redwood News! The team has deepened partnerships with NCIDC, Potowat Garden, and Harumbre, and welcomed a new relationship with Blue Lake Rancheria. For the latest, follow Humbuildt Homes and Playhouse Arts, or the project's Instagram.
Connecting Local Mass Timber to Regional Housing and Building Needs
Led by Mad River Mass Timber | Collaborator: atelierjones
The Redwood Region produces some of the world's finest timber — yet it faces acute housing shortages, high construction costs, and limited markets for small or fire-damaged wood. Mad River Mass Timber (MRMT) bridges this gap, positioning itself to become California's first mass timber manufacturer by turning locally sourced, sustainably managed forest materials into low-carbon building materials for affordable, workforce, and rural housing.
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A Regenerative Housing Solution for Tribal and Rural Communities
In partnership with sustainable architecture firm atelierjones, MRMT is developing prefabricated timber kits — flexible, rapidly deployable housing solutions designed with and for Tribal and priority communities. The project is pursuing Master Permitting strategies with local jurisdictions to achieve pre-permitted design status, reducing costs and time-to-permit for interested parties across the region. By connecting sustainable forest management with high-value building markets, the initiative fosters a regenerative timber economy while creating skilled careers and modernizing rural construction.
Key Updates
The project launched a standardized Design Guide and kit-of-parts system supporting repeatable construction of ADUs and two- and three-bedroom homes, with the single-family prototype structural design reaching approximately 55% completion. About three-quarters of planned community meetings were completed, with feedback from Blue Lake Rancheria and other Tribal representatives informing designs ahead of permitting. Early coordination with structural engineers and county planning departments clarified permitting pathways, and outreach to state representatives explored broader application of the housing models. For the latest, follow Mad River Mass Timber.
Developing a Climate Forward Workforce and Innovation Pipeline for Forest and Community Resilience
Led by Forest WRX Alliance | Collaborators: Blue Lake Rancheria, Hoopa Valley Tribe, Cal Poly Humboldt, Humboldt and Mendocino Redwood Companies, Mad River Mass Timber, Humboldt Bay Harbor District, Anew Climate, Lake County Resource Conservation District, and others
Workforce shortages, limited infrastructure, and escalating wildfire risk demand a systemic response — one that combines Traditional Ecological Knowledge with modern forestry practices and creates pathways for underserved communities into thriving-wage careers. The Forest WRX Alliance's Climate Forward Workforce and Innovation Pipeline does exactly that, integrating four interconnected components: Workforce Training Assessment and Dashboard Development, a Climate Tech and Natural Resource Management Program, Mass Timber Manufacturing for Rural Housing, and Carbon Market Development.
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Building a Systemic Approach to Forests, Workforce, and Sustainable Building
By fostering deep partnerships with Tribal organizations, educational institutions, and industry partners — including new programs at Cal Poly Humboldt — the initiative creates systemic change in how the region approaches forest management, workforce development, and sustainable building. Stipends for Tribal and community participation, targeted support for rural and remote communities, and integration of TEK throughout ensure equity is built into the model from the ground up. Carbon credit revenue potential from forest treatment areas offers an additional pathway to long-term financial sustainability.
Key Updates
A cross-sector Design Team identified priority areas across wood products, forest management, and restoration support, conducting outreach to 75 potential advisors to guide program development. Regional partners formalized cross-county collaboration and began assessing workforce training needs and career pathways in forest stewardship. Site evaluation advanced for a proposed wood products materials testing laboratory at the Port of Humboldt Bay — a potential hub for product R&D and industry collaboration that could move low-value forest material into new training opportunities and market pathways. For the latest, follow ForestWRX (also on Instagram).
Redwood Regional Training Center of Excellence
Led by Redwood Parks Conservancy and State Parks and Redwood Parks Conservancy | Partners: Yurok Tribe, the Department of Defense’s Innovative Readiness Training (IRT) program, and the National Park Service’s Historic Preservation Training Center (HPTC)
Originally built in 1936 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the former hatchery is now being repurposed to support hands‑on training in restoration equipment operation and related conservation skills. Within Redwood National and State Parks, approximately 300 miles of abandoned logging roads continue to degrade forest ecosystems, increase erosion, and block the river habitats that salmon and other species depend on. Removing them is one of the most significant restoration opportunities in the region—and one that requires a skilled local workforce that doesn't yet exist at scale. The Redwood Regional Training Center of Excellence addresses that gap directly, transforming the historic hatchery in Orick into a regional training hub where local residents, Tribal members, and transition-age youth can build careers in heavy equipment operation, ecological restoration, and conservation.
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Heavy Equipment Training Center for Regional Restoration and Infrastructure Jobs
During this pre-development phase (March–September 2026), Redwood Parks Conservancy and Redwood National and State Parks will purchase three heavy equipment simulators and complete hatchery building renovations and training center landscaping. The project draws on substantial work already underway: the Yurok Tribe has completed $537,906 in housing and utility rehabilitation using National Park Service funds, and the Historic Preservation Training Center has completed $327,640 in preservation work on the facility. In addition to these completed investments, the National Park Service, the Historic Preservation Training Center, and the Yurok Tribe are committing an additional two million dollars to complete the remaining building renovations. The center positions the region to meet rising demand for skilled operators across major restoration and infrastructure projects—projecting more than 300 high-paying job opportunities accessible to residents across all four counties.
Key Updates
Contracting was finalized in late February 2026, and Redwood Parks Conservancy and Redwood National Park staff kicked off the project with a grant meeting to align on goals and outcomes, and have since researched and secured quotes for training simulators, with four of them arriving in early May. Funding for this work will be combined with resources secured by the Yurok Tribe through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. For the latest, follow Redwood Parks Conservancy.
Hemp Lime Industry Advancement Initiative
Led by Indigenous Habitat Institute (IHI)
The construction industry is one of the largest contributors to carbon emissions globally — and the Redwood Region, with its hemp-growing capacity and tradition of building with local natural materials, is positioned to help change that. The Indigenous Habitat Institute (IHI) was founded to improve the health and well-being of Indigenous people, veterans, and communities in need by bringing certified, bio-based building materials and methods starting in North America. At the center of that work is hemp lime, or hempcrete — a carbon-negative building insulation material that is established internationally but not yet widely adopted, scalable, or professionally certified in the United States.
By transferring the professional standards of the French hempcrete industry to the Redwood Region, IHI is establishing the infrastructure, credentials, and workforce needed to deploy this material at a commercial scale. This work directly targets the economic "uninsurable" crisis currently paralyzing California’s housing and refinancing markets.
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Bringing Hempcrete Home: Building a Certified Hemp Lime Construction Industry in the Redwood Region
This initiative focuses on transferring the professional hemp lime — also known as hempcrete — building industry to the Redwood Region, establishing the infrastructure, credentials, and certified workforce needed to build at scale.
During the pre-development phase (March–September 2026), IHI is pursuing domestic performance certifications to launch prefabricated wall technology and scale the industry. This includes conducting 2-hour loaded fire, seismic, and R-value tests at the Home Innovation Research Lab to meet domestic standards, while researching which existing European certifications can be transferred to the United States. Through this work, IHI is providing actuarial evidence insurance companies need to reduce risk profiles — serving as a critical "financial unlock" to stabilize premiums, support home financing, and protect property values in high-risk regions.
In parallel, IHI will solidify relationships with European and global industry leaders in scalable hempcrete construction. These international partnerships will help IHI identify what is needed to establish a certified training school and a comprehensive industry rollout plan. IHI is also working to localize a suitable supply chain for regional sustainability, and will host 2–3 regional workshops for industry partners and community members — consulting with local academia, governments, and industry leaders while integrating arts, culture, Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), and community and environmental needs throughout.
To stimulate market flow, IHI is producing a professional documentary and hosting regional workshops designed to inspire developers, homeowners, and builders by demonstrating how hempcrete addresses the uninsurable home crisis — offering a clear path toward long-term property protection and reduced rebuilding costs.
Key Updates
Contracting was finalized in late February 2026, and hempcrete materials are currently undergoing load and fire testing in France, moving the work forward on an important technical front. IHI took the stage at the National Economic Development Summit (RES 2026), and Hemp Build Magazine spotlighted Lisa Sundberg and IHI in a featured article! The team has also built partnerships with House of Hemp, Qualtime, Talisman Earth, RUF Collective, The Danco Group, and Pacific Builders. For the latest and ways to support IHI, follow Indigenous Habitat Institute (also on Facebook & Instagram).
Middletown Rancheria Community RISE Project
Led by Middletown Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California
The Middletown Rancheria Community RISE Project reflects the self-determined vision of a 265-member Tribal community in Lake County — a community that has faced significant hardship, including the devastating 2015 Valley Fire, and where 16.8% poverty and housing shortages remain persistent realities. Developed with support from 69% of the General Council, the project integrates housing, climate justice, cultural resiliency, youth programs, entrepreneurship, and community planning into a comprehensive Master Plan for long-term, Tribal-led development.
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Strengthening Tribal Self-Determination Through Housing, Energy, Culture, and Land Stewardship
Key priorities include the Barnes Street Housing Project to address post-fire housing needs; hydropower, geothermal, and renewable energy development; water system evaluation; a Tribal museum and linguistic preservation program supported by Tribal Elder and Youth Culture Keepers; and a Youth Tribal Council guiding apprenticeships and mentoring programs. Together, these initiatives create sustainable economic opportunity for both Tribal and non-Tribal community members while strengthening Middletown Rancheria's capacity for self-determination and environmental stewardship.
Key Updates
After onboarding new staff, Middletown Rancheria quickly advanced a Tribal fuel reduction and workforce development initiative, training eight Tribal youth interns through a three-week internship in fuel reduction, safety, and leadership — while launching planning for a six-week fuel reduction crew. The Tribe purchased a DJI drone and initiated surveying and training for work on the Noyes Ranch and Big Canyon properties, strengthening Tribal capacity for land stewardship and wildfire resilience. For the latest, follow Middletown Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California.
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