Lake Wildfire Resilience Workforce Program

About

Workforce Alliance of the North Bay was awarded in 2024 a community development block grant through the California Department of Housing and Community Development in the amount of $4.7 million dollars. Through this grant, WANB has been able to develop the Lake Wildfire Resilience Training program. This grant is in partnership with Tribal EcoRestoration Alliance to bring expanded trainings to the communities of Lake County.

The Lake Wildfire Resilience Workforce Program is a collaborative initiative dedicated to preparing Lake County residents for careers that protect communities from wildfire risk and support long-term recovery. Wildfires are becoming more frequent and severe, and our region needs a skilled workforce to implement proactive measures that safeguard homes, ecosystems, and lives.

This program offers hands-on training, industry-recognized certifications, and paid work experience in critical areas such as fuels reduction, defensible space, home hardening, prescribed fire support, and post-fire restoration. By combining technical skills with ecological best practices, we help participants build sustainable careers while strengthening community resilience.

Training Courses

Basic 40

This five-day hands-on introductory course combines ecocultural fire content with NWCG Basic Wildland Firefighter curriculum (ICS-100, L-180, S-130, and S-190).

Includes work capacity test (WCT) and practice shelter deployment, and meets NWCG requirements for qualification as Firefighter Type 2 (FFT2).

Online completion of IS-700 is required prior to the start of the course.

Upcoming Dates: April 6-10, 2026 and June 8-12, 2026

Location: Upper Lake, CA

JUNE APPLICATIONS OPEN MARCH 13th – APRIL 27th

Submit Interest

Fire and Forestry Career Training

This four-week intensive offers participants a solid foundation to pursue a career in land stewardship, especially the realms of fire and forestry. You will gain wide-ranging skills including an understanding of the local ecology, plant identification, restoration, chainsaw skills, job readiness skills, and more. You will also have the opportunity to learn from Native land stewards and the practices that have kept our land in good health since time immemorial.

There will be 10 On-the-Job Training positions open to work and learn with TERA’s hand crew after the 4-week training for individuals who want to keep building their skills as land stewards in a real world setting. This 10-week program is a great launching pad for entry level careers.

Dates: Monday – Thursday, July 20 – August 13, 2026
Hours: 8:30 am – 4 pm Daily

Location: Upper Lake, CA

Topics

  • Land Restoration

  • Chainsaw Skills

  • Fuels Reduction

  • Cultural Fire

  • Safety Plant Identification

  • Leadership Skills

  • NEPA/CEQA

  • Teamwork

  • & more…

APPLICATIONS OPEN APRIL 24th – JUNE 5th

Interested in Participating?

Submit your Interest