Reaffirming its commitment to forest management and wildfire prevention, Placer welcomed a new regional forest health coordinator last week to the County Executive Office.

Kerri Timmer, who comes to the county with over two decades of working with state, federal and nonprofit partners on environmental and community sustainability, will work under the direction of county Agricultural Commissioner Josh Huntsinger.

“Few matters are of greater urgency to Placer County than forest management and wildfire prevention,” said Placer County Board of Supervisors Chair Robert Weygandt. “The foothills are one of the most high-risk areas in the state to experience a major wildfire. This position will leverage the current forest management work with other county efforts for a more coordinated approach to this critical challenge.”

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Placer’s County Executive Office, Department of Public Works, Office of the Agricultural Commissioner and the Office of Emergency Services work collectively with county partners to execute forest management projects in the region. These partners consist of CAL FIRE Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit / Placer County Fire Department, local fire districts, federal fire partners, cities, Firewise USA communities and the Placer Fire Safe Alliance, which all work toward creating and maintaining defensible space around homes and infrastructure, regional fuel breaks, fire education campaigns and more. This position will support these larger efforts.

“Over the years, the county has strategically advocated for proper forest management through financial partnerships with state and federal agencies,” said Agricultural Commissioner Josh Huntsinger. “This position will lead the county’s multi-disciplinary strategies to work in collaboration with state and federal agencies to manage forested lands that preserve these critical natural resources while reducing the risk of wildfire to Placer County residents, property and critical infrastructure.”

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Kerri will implement and monitor the county’s multi-disciplinary forest health and wildfire management strategy, leverage existing cooperative partnerships with state and federal agencies and facilitate forest health management efforts in the county.

As recent Vice President of Climate & Energy for the Sierra Business Council, Kerri worked in partnership with local, regional, state and federal agencies and officials to advance climate action planning, energy efficiency programs, sustainable communities’ strategies and other regional priorities. Kerri brings more than 25 years of public- and private- sector experience in community and government relations, business communications, land and water conservation, and nonprofit management to her role with the county.

“Placer County is one of the most forward-thinking counties in the Sierra region around issues of resource management. County supervisors have made forest health and wildfire risk reduction a top priority; multiple county departments are already engaged on the issues; and external partners are anxious to support the county’s work to achieve forest-related goals and objectives. I am so pleased to join this team to help bring the county’s coordinated forest health vision to fruition.”

Source: Placer County