Program Description: The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Wildfire Resiliency Initiative has increased the pace and scale of vegetation management and fire-adapted native plant restoration activities to promote resiliency on CDFW lands. Projects are aligned with the implementation framework known as Maintenance, Adaptive management, Restoration, Capacity or MARC. Actions include new and ongoing fuel reduction projects, native species revegetation, facility protection and preparedness, increased collaborations with Tribes and partners, and advancing workforce development. Monitoring efforts have begun to ensure best use practices are being applied within an adaptive management process.

Program Impact:

CDFW has initiated more than 70 fuel reduction and restoration projects on at-risk land across the state, many of which provide protection to Disadvantaged Communities. To date, fuel reduction has occurred on more than 84,000 acres, more than 32,000 yards of fencing has been installed to support future grazing, and 4,000 acres of previously burned habitat has been reseeded with native plant species.

Resilience in Action: Examples of the types of projects and activities CDFW is undertaking as part of the Wildfire Resiliency Initiative include:

• Reducing the buildup of dry, flashy fuels through grazing. More than 26,000 combined acres have been actively grazed at the North Carrizo Ecological Reserve, Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area and Butte Valley Wildlife Area, Santa Rosa Plain Vernal Pool Ecological Reserve, Calhoun Cut Ecological Reserve, and Rancho Jamul Ecological Reserve.
• Removing excess vegetation around the perimeters of Pilgrim Creek Ecological Reserve’s 121-acres of riparian and coastal sage scrub. This protects the site and adjacent properties, including Camp Pendleton and residential developments.
• At the Slinkard/Little Antelope Wildlife Area in Mono county, 3,572 previously burned acres have beenseeded with native bitterbrush, sagebrush, perennial grasses, and forbs (>12,000 lbs. of seed) in partnership with California Deer.
• At Pine Hill Ecological Reserve, 7 acres of dense shrubs have been cleared along the property boundary, which borders a residential area (see video).
• At Butte Creek House Ecological Reserve, previously burned by the Dixie Fire, CDFW was able to quickly construct beaver analog dams to slow the flow of water and perform contour falling to reduce erosion (see video).
• At Daugherty Hill Wildlife Area, 165.5 acres of fuel breaks were cleared with another 273.8 acres planned for 2023.
• At Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve, 1,780 acres of fuel breaks, invasive species removal and native species revegetation were completed at Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve.
• Near the Darrah Springs, Crystal Lake and Mount Shasta Hatcheries, 20 acres of defensible space was created to provide protection from catastrophic wildfire.
• At Cosumnes River Preserve (CRP) 450 acres of riparian forest has been thinned of decadent vegetation using hand crews, mechanical equipment, and where appropriate, prescribed herbivory, creating a more natural mosaic of vegetation, and reducing the risk of fire carrying through the riparian area. This project is being coordinated with other stakeholders in the CRP, increasing the impact of wildfire funds being spent.
• At Elkhorn Slough Ecological Reserve approximately 16 acres of eucalyptus trees have been removed from high ignition risk areas, including along roadways and near structures.
• At Mendota Wildlife Area 2,206 acres of fuel treatments were completed. Treatments included mowing access roads, creating, and maintaining fire breaks, and tree trimming.
• At Los Banos and North Grasslands Wildlife Areas, 4,260 acres of fuel reduction activities has taken place. Treatment activities have included: mowing access roads, discing firebreaks, treating invasive species, and clearing vegetation around powerlines, and perimeter roads. In addition to fuel reduction work, 2 acres of pollinator friendly native species were established.
• At the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, 150 tamarisk trees were removed .
• At the Hallelujah Junction Wildfire Area, 3,000 acres burned by the North Fire in 2020 are being restored. 1,600 bitterbrush plants were installed in different treatments to evaluate the best method for reintroducing native plants to the burned area. Sagebrush seeding is taking place across the burned acreage as well. The reintroduction of native shrub species will help to slow the proliferation of invasive grass species and help promote a longer fire return interval on the landscape.
• In addition to localized actions, CDFW has initiated several state-level contracts that support Regional projects including boundary surveys, CCC work crews, and cultural resources surveys.

1: Fire Break along Roadway in CDFW Region 6

Program Description: California State Parks is building a more wildfire-resilient State Park System through fuels reduction, prescribed fire, pest management, hazardous tree management, facility protection and improved wildfire preparedness. State Parks has amplified this work by collaborating with public and private conservation partners.

Program Impact: In 2022, the first full year of implementation of the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Program (WFRP), State Parks greatly expanded its capacity of prescribed fire activities while also implementing critical fuels reduction projects to actualize the benefits of this investment in wildfire resilience statewide. Notably, State Parks recruited and trained additional staff, acquired much-needed support equipment, and completed and started to scale up prescribed burn activities and support future wildfire resilience efforts on state parks. State Parks expanded partnerships with collaborators such as Parks California, Native American Tribes, Resource Conservation Districts, and others.

In 2022, State Parks conducted fuels reduction and/or prescribed fire activities at 42 State Park units throughout the state — from the far northern redwood forest parks near the Oregon border, along the central coast, in the Sierra Mountains, and down to the southern sky island forest parks near the Mexico border.

Figure 12 Broadcast burn as a prescribed fire activity at Humboldt Redwoods State Park.

Figure 13 Pile burn as a prescribed fire activity in State Parks Sierra District.

Resilience in Action: State Parks Wildfire and Forest Resilience Program has:

• Partnered with the Native American Conservation Crew at Cuyamaca Ranch State Park to provide local Native American youths on-the-job work experience in fuels management and reforestation work while incorporating cultural education and learning labs.
• Prepared a1,300 acres prescribed burn for the South Grove of Giant Sequoias at Calaveras Big Trees State Park, in coordination with the California Giant Sequoia Coalition. State Parks is coordinating with CAL FIRE, the US Forest Service and the National Park Service for this project and expects to burn in Fall 2023.
• Purchased eleven fire engines and is training additional State Park’s staff to expand State Park’s prescribed burn program.
• Also purchased 12 Burn Boss Air Curtain Burner incinerators, enabling year-round slash pile removal.

Figure 14 Native American Conservation Corps crew at the Cuyamaca Rancho State Park.

Figure 15 Pile burn as a prescribed fire activity in Trione-Annadell State Park.

Figure ## Ecological burn at State Parks Santa Cruz District to maintain coastal prairie habitat.

Program Description: The Department of Conservation’s Regional Forest and Fire Capacity (RFFC) Program supports local and regional efforts to assess the resilience of their forests and communities, identify forest health and wildfire prevention priorities, build local partner capacity, and develop a pipeline of shovel ready fuels reduction projects. With the passage of AB 9 (Wood/2021) and a sustained increase in funding, DOC has expanded the RFFC Program to nearly all fire-prone regions in California, each developing a long-range strategy for wildfire resilience and a consistent pipeline of high-value projects that can be executed in the next several years.

Most recently, this increased funding has enabled the Regional Forest and Fire Capacity program to award additional block grants to expand further across Los Angeles County in the Upper Los Angeles and San Gabriel Watersheds as well as the Inland Empire in Riverside County. The Department is also working to provide coverage for eastern Sonoma County in the North Bay watershed.

Program Impact: In 2022 the Regional Forest and Fire capacity program increased funding for its 11 block grantees and executing two new block grants for the Los Angeles and San Gabriel River Watersheds and the Inland Empire in Riverside County, in turn supporting more than 100 subgrants and contracts for fire resilience activities, coordinating more than 200 organizations and 500 practitioners, cooperating with or co-managing projects with 30 California Native American Tribes, providing training and workforce development opportunities to nearly 1000 Californians, and accelerating at least 250,000 acres of forest health and fuel reduction projects toward shovel-readiness.

Regional Forest and Fire Capacity Program was able to scale from a phase 1 pilot program in specific areas throughout the State to now cover every fire-prone region in California expanding programs in Lake, Napa, Colusa, Yolo, Solano, Glenn, Tehama, Shasta, Southern Siskiyou, Los Angeles, Riverside, and Orange Counties.

Funds also:

• Developed critical capacity to enable local wildfire resilience partners to scale up their impact to overcome systematic and structural barriers in implementing resilience goals.

• Finalized phase 1 Regional Priority Plans in the California North Coast watersheds, Inland Empire, and the Santa Monica Mountains, and Greater San Diego as well as many other local collaborative planning efforts, producing 367 high priority projects through partnerships with at least 100 local organizations across Southern California.

• Supported the launch of the North Coast Regional Resilience Plan, adaptive prioritization and planning framework, and a pipeline of projects with more than 1000 priority projects in different stages of readiness integrated with a novel project tracking and reporting tool.

• Facilitated block grants to implement Regional Priority Plans in the North Coast, Sierra, Central, and Southern California regions.

• Completed more than 50 scalable demonstration projects, advancing restoration, reforestation, workforce, biomass utilization, mapping, and modelling throughout the state.

• Launched indigenous conservation corps programs in San Diego and Los Angeles Counties.

• Execution of a unique bilateral agreement between the Tahoe Conservancy and Washoe Tribe to coordinate and consult on wildfire and natural resource issues within the greater Tahoe region.

• Expanded a prescribed fire association mentorship and support program, empowering and expanding prescribed fire expertise, resulting in the development of several new prescribed burn associations.

Supported a tribal capacity grant program implemented by the Indigenous Stewardship Network, an indigenous-led non-profit organization that supports the expansion of indigenous-led forest and fire cultural practices. Other activities that have been funded to date and those currently under consideration include:

• Continuing RFFC regional collaboration, planning, and prioritization efforts
• Leveraging RFFC funding with grant applications
• Organizational development to build capacity in the area of forest and fire project development, funding, and implementation
• Development of shovel-ready forest and fire resilience projects
• Expansion of Prescribed and cultural fire training and networks
• Working with the USFS and implementing 3rd party NEPA projects
• Assisting Fire Safe Councils with community protection project identification, prioritization, funding, and implementation
• Developing invasive pest control programs for major pests such as Gold-Spotted Oak Borer beetle

Further activities are planned through 2024.

• Completion of Regional Priority Plans in all regions
• Continued growth of Prescribed Burn Associations and prescribed fire training
• Expansion of shovel ready project development
• Growth of Indigenous Stewardship Network
• Strengthening of formal governance in regions

Program Description: CAL FIRE’s grant program will continue to support forest health activities throughout the State and now includes dedicated funding for Tribes and post-fire reforestation and regeneration. Focused on implementation acres, treatments include reforestation, prescribed fire, fuels modification, pest management, and biomass utilization.

Program Impact: The Forest Health grant program has invested more than $394 million in 97 multi-landowner, landscape scale forest restoration projects. The funds are used for directly implementing forest treatments and have resulted in tens of thousands of acres treated across the state.

Resilience in Action: The San Mateo County Forest Health project involves forest fuels reduction treatments across approximately 445 acres at two county parks and Camp Butano Creek, a property owned and managed by the Girl Scouts of Northern California. The forests in these parks have high fuel loads, rugged, inaccessible topography, and have experiences years of extreme drought, threatening nearby isolated mountain communities that have limited evacuation routes. The removal of brush, dense vegetation, and diseased trees throughout the project area is intended to improve growing conditions and resilience to drought, disease, and wildfire for the remaining forest.