Trees

The Land

After the 2015 Valley Fire, Harbin’s reforesting and garden team worked arduously with our professional forester to tackle the overwhelming process of replacing the trees and forests that were destroyed. Our multi-year fundraising campaign, Harbin’s Program for Land, Water and Trees, elicited expressions of support exceeding what we imagined. Thanks to many, many individual donors, some very special in-kind contributions and a delivery of maturing shade trees from an anonymous corporate donor which included 140 hardy trees of various species, many approaching maturity and as large as 30’ tall, these magnificent gifts gave us a significant head start on the process of returning trees to our Mainside area.

When you visit, you’ll see signs of the fire on the hillsides of the canyon. You may notice where some areas are returning more quickly than other areas. When you look towards the higher elevations of Boggs Mountain, the tallest mountain surrounding the Northwest end of Harbin Canyon, you will see how the forest fire burned so hot that it took a tool on the soil. It will take time for the forest to return. But each year more new growth returns and softens the devestation.

In the years to come we continue working with from our trusted forestry experts to mitigate future fire hazards and plan for climate change by using appropriate planting methods and species.

When you are in the area you might consier a visit to Boggs Demonstration Forest, a short drive from Harbin and an education experience.

In 2018 Harbin won a $469,000 CalFire Healthy Forest Grant to support biomass cleanup and carbon sequestration, and to positively impact the Harbin Creek watershed. This Grant recognized both our excellent environmental progress since the fire, and the significant financial support of from many contributions to Harbin’s Reforestation Campaign which enabled us to research and successfully apply for the extraordinary Grant.

During our “Surround Harbin with Love and Trees” fundraising campaing, Harbin also received an anonymous corporate contribution of 140 maturing trees, a miraculous gift bringing much needed shade to the Pool Area,

Garden, and Meadow. During that time, three mature olive trees were donated to Harbin. You can visit these century old trees in “Olive Grove” near the Labyrinth.

The generosity and love from Harbin’s guests truly brought trees back to Harbin. Our gratitude overflows as these trees continue to grow and thrive. While some reforesting wasn’t as successful as we had hoped on some hillsides, we will continue to work on reforesting in the years to come.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE)

operates 14 Demonstration State Forests totaling 85,135 acres. These forests represent the most common forest types in California and serve as a
living laboratory for how to care for California’s timberlands for multiple benefits—recreation, watershed protection, wood products and sustainable timber production, and habitat restoration—given a changing climate and

increasingly severe and intense wildfire seasons. The forests provide unique research and demonstration opportunities where environmental scientists, foresters, and other researchers can study the effects of various forest management and restoration techniques to help inform management practices for government, nonprofit and private forestland owners.
https://www.fire.ca.gov/what-we-do/natural-resource management/demonstration-state-forests

The Land

Trees

HIKING

GARDEN PROJECT

SUSTAINABILITY

TREES

Harbin Hot Springs