Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD)

The Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD): Sustainable Land Management at Pine Hill Preserve managed vegetation along 11,000-plus miles of power lines in a 900- square-mile area that serves 1.5 million customers and community members residing mostly in Sacramento County. This project employs Integrated Vegetation Management (IVM) practices to manage vegetation and support wildlife populations by creating habitat corridors, maintaining early successional plant landscapes, and increasing biodiversity of flora and fauna. The goal at Pine Hill Preserve is to conserve rare plant populations and protect human life and property by reducing wildfire risk through the use of IVM practices that are recommended by the Bureau of Land Management. With monitoring equipment provided by EPRI, SMUD is now conducting pilot wildlife surveys to document what types of wildlife utilize this site to identify the best ways to expand pollinator habitat in the future.