Free! After The Flames Webinar Series
A Community-based Response to the Dixie Fire: Collaboration to Restore Landscapes & Rebuild Community in the Footprint of California's Largest Wildfire
Tuesday, November 10, 2026 | 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM MT (10:30 AM - 12:00 PM PT)
Join COCO as we host Kyle Rodgers and Bella Bledsoe from The Sierra Institute!
Throughout the West, community-based organizations and collaborative groups are working to address forest health and reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire. Many of these groups are also simultaneously working to expand wood utilization and rebuild local workforces, recognizing the link between restoration and rural communities. What happens when landscape scale fire arrives before landscape scale restoration? How does an organization address community and landscape needs when faced with the added challenges of an extensive wildfire footprint? Hear from Sierra Institute staff about their ongoing efforts to facilitate collaboration, accelerate restoration, and rebuild communities after the Dixie Fire, the single largest wildfire in California’s history.
Please join us on Tuesday, November 10, 2026,
11:30 AM – 1:00 PM MT (10:30 AM – 12:00 PM PT)
Kyle Rodgers, Executive Director, Sierra Institute
Kyle is the Executive Director of the Sierra Institute for Community and Environment based in Taylorsville, CA. Over the past 15 years, Kyle has worked in various capacities with the Sierra Institute since moving to Taylorsville in 2011. He now leads the organization’s work, which focuses on forest and watershed health, rural development, wood utilization, and youth stewardship. Originally from the Southeast, he also spent time working with the National Park Service on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina and developing habitat conservation plans in Tennessee in partnership with the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Kyle holds a B.S. in Conservation Biology from Clemson University, and a M.S. in Forestry, Wildlife, and Fisheries from the University of Tennessee.
Bella Bledsoe, Director of Collaborative Engagement, Sierra Institute
Bella Bledsoe joined Sierra Institute in May 2021 as the Watershed Coordinator and has since transitioned into the role of Director of Collaborative Engagement. Originally from the San Juan Islands of Washington State, Bella studied Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and Environmental Justice and Geospatial Data Sciences at the University of Michigan. Her work focuses on fostering community-led approaches to landscape restoration by bringing together agencies, industry, Tribal community members, and other partners to shape land management priorities and advance on-the-ground forest and watershed restoration.