CNRA Announces Tool to Improve Wildfire Resilience with Support from Google.org
CNRA announces tool to Improve Wildfire Resilience with Support from Google.org
The CNRA and the USDA FOREST SERVICE, along with support from Google.org, Google’s philanthropic arm, has developed Planscape – a new wildfire resilience planning tool that uses state and federal resilience data to create user-friendly models that will be easily accessible to land planners. A demonstration of Planscape was released at the California Wildfire & Forest Resilience Task Force meeting on September 27th, 2022. The new, open-source tool will permit everyone to evaluate fire risks and remedies.
RESOURCES
California State Legislature Invests $150 Million for Green Schools
California State Legislature Invests $150 Million for Green Schools
California officials and climate activists gathered at Pacoima Middle School to celebrate $150 million being invested to help greenify schools across the state.
The funds, approved by the state legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom, will be used to plant grass and trees in asphalt-covered schoolyards. The investment comes at a time when California has been experiencing its longest and most intense heat wave on record.
RESOURCES
CAL FIRE: Urban and Community Forestry
Green Schoolyards of America
SNC to Pilot Wildfire Resilience Landscape Investment Strategy
SNC to Pilot Wildfire Resilience Landscape Investment Strategy
Made possible by increased state and federal funding and cooperation, the the Landscape Grant Pilot Program will give land managers a new tool that seeks to meet the wildfire crisis where it is occurring—at the landscape level. The program will seek to align funding from multiple entities to provide one or two large landscape grants that support strategic portfolios of projects across large landscapes over a 5- to 10-year timeframe. The program will help SNC implement its Sierra Nevada Landscape Investment Strategy
RESOURCES
Expert Roundtable on Wildfire and Forest Resilience
Expert Roundtable on Wildfire and Forest Resilience
Exacerbated by climate change, the increasing frequency and scale of wildfires have devastated communities and ecosystems around the world, while releasing vast quantities of carbon into the atmosphere.
In the face of these accelerating challenges, calls for climate-smart management of natural lands have grown louder among policymakers, experts, and stakeholders. Government and civil society programs have begun investing in forest resilience and nature-based solutions to deliver on mitigation and adaptation goals, working with Indigenous partners whose knowledge and experience are vital.
Recognizing the need to bring together interdisciplinary, international coalitions to advance wildfire prevention, mitigation, and response, Prime Minister Trudeau and Governor Newsom committed their respective governments to hosting a roundtable on wildfire and forest resilience within their broader Climate Action and Nature Protection Partnership which they announced in June. By bringing together officials, academics, industry and civil society at UN Climate Week, this event delivers on that vision. By convening thought leaders to discuss our collective challenges, Canada and California hope to discuss collective challenges and chart next steps.
RESOURCES
US Forest Service Response
Governor Newsom’s Recap of Climate Week 2022
Fighting the Goldspotted Oak Borer Instructional Video
Fighting the Goldspotted Oak Borer Instructional Video
Oak Grove, a small San Diego backcountry community, is a success story in stopping an invasive, tree-killing pest from attacking California’s beautiful native oaks. The Goldspotted Oak Borer (GSOB) is a deadly invasive pest that that is threatening California’s oak trees. In this video, UC wildlife biologist Dr. Tom Scoot and arborist Bret Hutchinson summarize proven techniques for identifying and treating GSOB.
RESOURCES
San Diego RCD Fire Safe Council
Village News, 8/27/22: Learn how to protect California oak trees from a deadly, invasive pest
30x30 Partnership Kick-Off
30x30 Partnership Kick-Off
On September 28, CNRA kicked off collaboration and community engagement around the 30 x 30 initiative, which commits California to the goal of conserving 30 percent of our lands and coastal waters by 2030. The Task Force is committed to aligning wildlife and forest resilience efforts with the state’s biodiversity and climate goals. Goal 3 of the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan outlines how the Task Force will seek to integrate forest management into state climate and biodiversity strategies.
Impacts of Mosquito Fire On Actively Managed Blodgett Forest
Impacts of Mosquito Fire On Actively Managed Blodgett Forest
Previous management history makes an acute difference in the resiliency of forests to wildfire. Active management, including prescribed fire and group selection silviculture, significantly altered the behavior of the Mosquito Fire at UC Berkeley’s Blodgett Forest.
Governor Newsom Signs State Budget Bill
Governor Newsom Signs State Budget Bill
Governor Newsom signed a budget bill this week that provides more than $1.3 billion over the next two years to accelerate forest health and wildfire resilience projects throughout the state. With these new investments, the Newsom Administration has committed more than $2.8 billion to the Governor’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan.
Highlights of theWildfire and Forest Resilience Expenditure Plan include:
- $472 million for forest health and fire prevention grants
- $130 million for stewardship of state-owned land
- $50 million for post-fire reforestation
- $170 million to state conservancies for forest health projects
- $70 million for prescribed fire and hand crews
- $40 million for the Regional Forest and Fire Capacity (RFFC) Program
- $30 million for workforce development
- $25 million for assistance to small landowners
RESOURCES
CAL FIRE Announces New Vision for The Jackson Demonstration State Forest
CAL FIRE Announces New Vision for The Jackson Demonstration State Forest
Based on discussions with tribal governments and key stakeholders, the new vision will inform an update to the Jackson Management Plan with a renewed focus on climate science, restoration ecology and a new model for tribal co-management. CAL FIRE also announced that timber harvest will resume with a focus on small trees, removing slash piles, permanently protecting large trees, and enhancing protection of culturally sensitive sites.
California Demonstration State Forest System Adds 2,500 Acres to Statewide Total For Research, Restoration and Conservation
California Demonstration State Forest System Adds 2,500 Acres to Statewide Total For Research, Restoration and Conservation
CAL FIRE acquired two properties through donation from PG&E including 2,246 acres along South Cow Creek in Shasta County and 267 acres in the headwaters of the Bear River in Nevada and Placer counties. These properties increase the diversity of forest types under CAL FIRE’s stewardship and create new opportunities for research and demonstration of sustainable forestry techniques. CAL FIRE will work collaboratively and closely with the Shasta Land Trust and Bear Yuba Land Trust who hold the conservation easements on these properties to ensure that the scenic, open space, forest, wildlife habitat, recreation, and historic and cultural values are protected forever. The properties will be stewarded for these multiple uses under a Forest Management Plan to be approved by the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The acquisitions bring the total acreage of California’s demonstration state forest system to over 84,000 acres statewide.
RESOURCES
Demonstration State Forests
Shasta Land Trust
Bear Yuba Land Trust