FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – CalFire provided a $1.9M grant on Wednesday for the training and expansion of the Central Valley Forestry Corps in the Reedley and Mother Lode areas, officials from the Fresno Regional Workforce Development Board announced on Wednesday.
The Central Valley Forestry Corps hopes to train at least 85 Central Valley residents on crucial forestry and fuels management in the Fresno County and Mother Lode regions, as well as other areas.
Officials say this training is crucial to decrease the number of wildfires in California. According to CalFire, as of Nov. 2022 there have been 7,490 fires that have burned over 362,455 acres.
The Central Valley Forestry Corps is described as a no-cost training program “that will prepare an untapped workforce within the Central Valley to assist in the removal of 129 million dead trees.” Anyone interested in joining the training program should click here.