Pinecone Cowboy | Stew McMorrow | E87

Since 2016, more than two million acres of Northern California have been torched by devastating wildfires, leaving vast tracts of previously forested land nothing but black matchsticks. As the landscape recovers, efforts are being made to ensure forests regenerate so massive brush fields don’t take the place of trees. As staff chief for CalFire’s Wildfire Resilience Program, Stew McMorrow has more than 30 years experience climbing trees, falling trees, planting trees, funding agencies in reforestation, as well as working as a Registered Professional Forester (RPF). McMorrow is also an avid outdoorsman and mountain biker, and understands the value of balancing recreation with forestry, serving on the executive board of the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship. In Episode 87, we join McMorrow planting seedlings on Mount Hough near Quincy, California, heavily impacted by the Dixie Fire, then chat with him about forestry, pinecones, growing trees, reforestation and how recreation plays a role in all of it. We also talk with Michael Hall of Feather River Resource Conservation District and fellow RPF, Jason Moghaddas, about the recent controversial news around glyphosate – aka Round Up – being sprayed on public lands.