WES Community Passes Major Environmental Milestone
The National Park Service recently issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) and Floodplain Statement of Findings (FSOF) for rebuilding the Whiskeytown Environmental School (WES) campus. The draft Environmental Assessment and FSOF were circulated for public review in January and February 2026. Comments were collected, reviewed, and answered and/or incorporated into the final documents by local and regional National Park Service staff.
The WES campus has endured a long history of environmental disturbance, including the impacts of historic mining and logging. The 2018 Carr Fire added another layer of habitat disturbance to the landscape. The Environmental Assessment outlines ways to improve habitat, protect sensitive resources, and guide rebuilding in a manner that strengthens WES as an outdoor laboratory for generations of students.
The next steps for the project include final schematic plans and construction-level documents. The completed FONSI and FSOF signals to donors, foundations, and government agencies that the rebuilding effort has taken another major step toward reality.
Whiskeytown Environmental School Community (WESC) is a 501(3)(c) nonprofit registered in California. Operating since 2011 to serve as a liaison between the business community, political leaders, and the community in support of WES’s programing. In May 2022, WESC mounted a capital campaign to rebuild WES and bring back the weeklong outdoor science program. WESC works in partnership with the Shasta County Office of Education which oversees the programming and the National Park Service which is the public land steward who manages the site. For more information or to make a gift for the Grow Back Stronger campaign.
