OUTCOME: Capacity
Problem
Lack of short- and long-term affordable housing and overnight stay accommodations for wildfire resilience workers (including fuel reduction or restoration crews, prescribed fire practitioners, restoration specialists, and others) is a recruitment and retention challenge that hinders establishing community-based crews that can live and work in the community they serve.
Solution
Workforce Housing - Support policies and actions that allow the needed workforce to find local affordable housing in communities where there is labor demand.
Background and Context
While there is growing demand for hazardous fuel reduction and economically sustainable land management practices, the field is dependent on temporary and seasonal workers and/or year-round personnel that often struggle to find affordable housing. In the recently completed Forest Sector Workforce Study Report, the lack of available housing near forest sector businesses and the high cost of living in California were identified as top contributing factors to the difficulty in filling critical positions. To further develop a skilled, year-round workforce, a concerted effort will be needed to address the variety of housing challenges that contribute to ongoing difficulties in recruitment and retention.
There is a need to coordinate and secure temporary, seasonal, and long-term housing and overnight stay accommodations for the growing and needed workforce. Overnight stay accommodations could range from spike out campgrounds on private or public land to long-term housing arrangements for community-based crews, or even larger temporary or permanent “campuses”. Securing workforce housing and overnight stay accommodations ensure workers have access to basic accommodations (bed, shower, laundry, microwave, fridge) and are not required to drive long distances to work in remote locations.
Recommendations
NCRP will work with regional partners to evaluate the range of needs for short- and long-term housing and overnight stay accommodations and pursue and coordinate multi-year funding to support workforce housing initiatives. This may include evaluating locations, costs, and feasibility for providing temporary or permanent work camps or campuses with accommodations such as portable shelters, temporary power and light towers, potable water trucks, mobile shower trailers, and portable laundry and hand wash stations. Permanent workforce housing campuses can benefit seasonal, as well as year-round workers. These same campuses could be used during wildfire suppression, creating economy of scale savings. Ideally any housing constructed for workers would use forest biomass removed during hazardous fuel reduction operations for construction and/or power (See Fire Resilient Forest: Forest Biomass Residuals Solution). These efforts will prioritize support in Tribal, rural, underserved, and vulnerable communities, and those with identified workforce housing shortages.
Actions
Work with local, regional, and state partners to evaluate workforce housing throughout the region – evaluate existing housing and locations where demand is likely to increase due to job growth in the natural resources and forest and fire management sectors.
Work with local, regional, and state partners to evaluate workforce housing throughout the region – evaluate existing housing and locations where demand is likely to increase due to job growth in the natural resources and forest and fire management sectors.
- Advocate for policies that support affordable workforce housing, at the state and local level.
- Advocate for state and federal support and funding to improve affordable workforce housing.
- Explore whether and how “affordable by design” housing could complement traditional affordable housing programs, and whether there could be a role for regional incentives in deploying private capital and developers to this end.
Work with county housing departments to evaluate Housing Element Plans to identify unused or underused county properties that might serve as campuses for housing units for both seasonal and permanent workforce.
Work with county housing departments to evaluate Housing Element Plans to identify unused or underused county properties that might serve as campuses for housing units for both seasonal and permanent workforce.
- Explore developing temporary or permanent work camps or campuses program.
- Explore options to offer camp logistics equipment throughout the region, including portable shelters, temporary power and light towers, potable water trucks, mobile shower trailers, and portable laundry and hand wash stations.
- Explore agreements with companies that provide camp logistics for fire crews who might offer discounted, off-season agreements for restoration crews.
- Develop pre-arranged agreements with private property owners in rural and Tribal areas for temporary overnight stay accommodations and/or camping that is supported by per diem stipends to property owners.
- Investigate feasibility of developing a nonprofit or B-corporation that focuses on connecting short-term rental property owners and rural landowners with workforce and affordable housing needs.
- Investigate feasibility of partnering with existing vacation rental companies to develop options for discounted housing for the restoration workforce.
- Review potential hotels and motels in the specific local areas to partner with to develop options for discounted housing for the restoration workforce.
- Research the long-term stay options that nurses use and see how they might be used in this situation.
- Work with start-up to develop an app for folks willing to do medium/long-term rentals for the stewardship workforce market.
- Evaluate use of Cal Fire Workforce/Biz Dev grants to create housing for workers (as well as to train and retain new crews).
References and Resources
Forest Sector Workforce Study Report (2021). North State Planning and Development Collective & CA Wildfire & Forest Resilience Task Force.