Sugar Pine Conservation Camp Reason for Inquiry:

The facilities include the following: two-story dormitory, kitchen and dining area, laundry room, administration building, fire fighting equipment storage building, garage and vehicle maintenance building, and inmate hobby shop. The camp also has an engraving shop where inmates produce nameplates and signs. The inmates are responsible for grounds maintenance, vehicle repairs, food service and preparation, and all other general maintenance that is required to keep the facility in good order.

California Conservation Camp fire crews, also known as hand crews, provide the labor that helps CDF achieve the Department’s mission. A primary objective within that mission is to “reduce loss of life, property, and natural resources through the implementation of balanced fire prevention, fire protection planning, presuppression, and suppression activities.” Sugar Pine has six organized and well trained fire crews, each consisting of approximately 15 inmates.

Inmates are responsible for meal preparation and serving. Breakfast and evening meals are served in the dining hall. Lunch is packaged for consumption at the various crew work sites. Special meals are prepared for inmate crews when returning from fighting a fire.

It was reported to the Grand Jury that approximately 95% of the inmates at this camp are there because of drug related offenses. Inmates cannot have a record of any sex- related offenses, escapes from other CDC facilities, or an arson offense, and they cannot be potentially violent. The average length of stay is less than a year. It is a rare occasion for an inmate to try an escape, as he knows that he will be returned to the state prison in Susanville. There was one attempted escape in 2001.

The inmates have telephone and visitation privileges. An inmate who meets special requirements may spend a weekend with his family at a house that is located on the property. Inmates are searched before and after these visits and must report for inmate count every two hours. Any food brought in by the family must be prepackaged and inspected by the officer in charge.

The citizens of California enjoy a significant fiscal benefit by housing their low risk inmates in the conservation camps. Many of the inmates at the camp learn skills and work ethics that will serve them well after their prison stay. The taxpayers also benefit from the labor these inmates provide for conservation related projects. The inmates provide labor, with Fire Crew Captain supervision, for work projects that would not otherwise be affordable for many government agencies. Statewide, California Conservation Camp fire crews average in excess of eight million hours of labor on work projects for CDF and other federal, state, and local agencies each year. CDF is careful not to compete with private enterprise. Sugar Pine Conservation Camp statistics provided to the Grand Jury indicate that in 2002, a total of 13,350 man-hours were dedicated to providing public service and 94,500 man-hours were utilized for emergency service. Each year the inmates at Sugar Pine, in conjunction with the local Lions Clubs in the Redding area, provide senior citizens and needy families with a supply of firewood.

There are ten correctional officers and twelve fire captains at this facility. All employees live off the camp property. There is one supervisor and two officers on duty each day; at night there is one supervisor and one officer on duty. There is a count of inmates every two hours day and night, with other unscheduled counts at random.

There are no medical facilities on site; only basic first aid is available. Inmates are transported to Redding for emergency medical care. Non-emergency medical care is provided at the state prison in Susanville.

WSRCD’s gravel injection projects have also benefited the salmon population. WSRCD’s Clear Creek Gravel Project at the Placer Road Bridge (newly named the Shasta County Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge) is one of a number of successful gravel injection projects.

Illegal trash dumping from the Veterans Memorial Bridge into Clear Creek is contaminating the creek with garbage, household appliances, vehicle batteries, yard chemicals, etc. Fencing at the bridge would discourage the illegal trash dumping. WSRCD is willing to apply for funding to provide fencing at the bridge if maintenance can be ensured.

WSRCD maintains an informational web site, providing interested parties a list of topics. The web site includes landowner assistance information, reports on current and past projects, on-line newsletter, guide to weed identification, on-line survey, and organizational information.

The District’s fire and fuel projects have reduced the danger of catastrophic wildfires in Western Shasta County. The goal of WSRCD is to assist private landowners in reducing fuel buildup and constructing fuel breaks. WSRCD has an on-going working relationship with federal, state, and local fire districts/departments to reduce the risk of fire in high risk areas in the foothills east and west of Redding, or those near urban areas.

The Grand Jury met with a private landowner who has participated in a WSRCD fuel break project. The landowner stated that WSRCD staff members were polite, cooperative, and informative. A fuel break was created along a roadway and extended 150 feet beyond the roadway shoulder into the landowner’s property. The landowner indicated the fuel break was completed at no cost to the landowner. The landowner also stated that other agencies involved in the project, including California Department of Forestry (CDF), were helpful in explaining what fire dangers were apparent and how the landowner could do work around the property to lessen the fire danger. In general, the landowner gave WSRCD high marks.