CDCR

Conservation (Fire) Camps

Facts and figures

Total Staff (CDCR) 2009: 10
Total Staffing (CAL-FIRE/LAC) 2009: 15
Total # Inmates (as of 12/31/2009): 117

Camp Products

Sign Manufacture (plastics and wood)

Community service projects

In 2009, Devil’s Garden Camp crews dedicated thousands of hours establishing fuel breaks, working on forest and range improvement projects and performing campground maintenance for the Warner Mountain and Devil’s Garden Ranger Districts of the U.S. Forest Service and Northern District of the Bureau of Land Management. In addition, crews assisted local school districts, fire districts and cemetery districts with fire hazard abatement. Devil’s Garden Conservation Camp provided the local communities with 2,944 hours of conservation-related project work. Federal agencies benefited from 74,288 hours. Crews dedicated over 64,010 hours of fire suppression in 2009, responding to 44 fires.

Welcome to Devil's Garden Conservation Camp #40

2300 County Road 74, Alturas, CA 96101
P.O. Box 100, Alturas, CA 96101
PH: (530) 233-3553

Camp Staff (CDCR)

W. McCracken, Correctional Lieutenant
Lindsay Shaver, Correctional Sergeant
Mike Heick, Correctional Officer
Mike Main, Correctional Officer
Mark Pence, Correctional Officer
Robert Coulter, Correctional Officer
Darin Fain, Correctional Officer
Mike Nagy, Correctional Officer
Rick Davis, Correctional Officer
Larry Hill, Correctional Officer

Camp History

The camp was first opened in 1988. The camp’s history is rich and begins well over 100 years before Devil’s Garden opened its doors. The Devil’s Garden Plateau where the camp is located was part of the Applegate or Lassen Trail, a byway that led travelers north to the Klamath region of Oregon or west into central California. After 1874, the road lost its regional importance and fell into disuse. In 1908, under proclamation by President Theodore Roosevelt, the area was placed under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Forest Service and became part of the Modoc National Forest. In the spring of 1942, only months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (predecessor of the Federal Aviation Administration), began formal surveys of the site with plans to construct an airfield to accommodate both commercial and military aircraft. Construction and paving of the 6,250-foot runway did not begin, however, until late in 1944, and for reasons unknown the project was abandoned in 1945.

In 1960 the U.S. Forest Service proposed upgrading the airport to serve as an air tanker base to fight fires. Two Navy torpedo bombers were permanently based at the airport. During the height of the fire season, as many as six aircraft with crews remained on alert at Devil’s Garden Airport. For eight years the airport was a well-known landing spot for many aviators until it was shut down in 1968. Almost 20 years later, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection surveyed the potential site for Devil's Garden Camp, and in 1988 the camp was opened for business.
Devil’s Garden Camp is staffed by CAL FIRE and CDCR personnel. CAL FIRE staff includes one division chief, two heavy fire equipment operators, one water and sewer plant operator, one office technician and ten fire captains. CDCR staff includes one correctional lieutenant, one correctional sergeant and eight correctional officers.

Inmate Programs

Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, GED Program through Feather River College, Pre-release Program, Victims of Crime, religious services provided by members of the community that volunteer their time.