CAL FIRE Dashboard Shows Effectiveness of Fuels Treatments on Recent Wildfires
New CAL FIRE Dashboard Shows Effectiveness of Fuels Treatments
On October 10, 2024, CAL FIRE launched its Fuels Treatment Effectiveness Dashboard to show how on-the-ground projects are protecting communities and landscapes when wildfire strikes, a key initiative of the Task Force. The dashboard displays Fuels Treatment Effectiveness Reports which evaluate the impacts vegetation management treatments have on fire behavior and highlight how fuel reduction activities not only assist in suppression efforts but also protect life, property, and the natural resources of California.
Fuels Treatments are areas where fuel reduction activities have been conducted, with the primary objective of reducing fuel loading. Treatments that are considered for evaluation include:
- Treatments that have been completed or have had activities in the last seven years.
- Objectives of:
- Broadcast Burn
- Fuel Reduction
- Fuel Break
- Right of Way Clearance
- California Forest Improvement Program (CFIP) projects with fuel reduction activities (e.g. thinning, pruning, piling).
- Fire plan, Vegetation Management Program (VMP) and California Vegetation Treatment Program (CalVTP) activities completed by CAL FIRE or Contract Counties.
- Wildfire Prevention and Forest health grant-funded projects including work performed by grantees and contractors.
Treatment Effectiveness is the effect a fuel reduction treatment has on fire behavior, ingress or egress, and fire suppression.
Examples of Positive Impact include: assisted with fire containment, ingress/egress, reduced property damage, or changing fire behavior.
Examples of treatments that Changed Fire Behavior include: halted rate of spread, slowed rate of spread, or reduced fire intensity.
Examples of treatments that Contributed to Control of Fire include: used as a primary or secondary containment line, provided ingress/egress for fire suppression personnel.
Emergency Forest Restoration Team Accelerates Caldor Fire Recovery
Caldor Fire Recovery Demonstrates Success Using EFRTs
October 17, 2024 – While non-industrial private forests make up roughly a quarter of California’s forested land, they often don’t have any pre-established funding or plans for immediate restoration after a wildfire. To address this critical gap, the Task Force Action Plan (Action Item 1.14) calls for the establishment of Emergency Forest Restoration Teams (EFRTs) to help small private forestland owners recover their lands. In 2021, three pilot EFRTs were developed in response to the Dixie, Tamarack and Caldor fires. By the end of 2023, the three programs had removed dead trees from 2,500 acres and planted new trees on 1,400 acres. On October 11, a field tour showcased how the Caldor EFRT has enabled the area to restore its natural landscapes, open recreational access and recover economically. These pilot EFRTs are proving successful and there are now 15 EFRT programs established across the state.
California Protects 11,000 Acres of the Upper Trinity River Watershed
California Protects 11,000 Acres of the Upper Trinity River Watershed
August 5, 2024 – Pacific Forest Trust has purchased 11,000 acres of the Upper Trinity River watershed from a timber company and transferred it to the Watershed Research and Training Center as a conservation easement. This marks a major step in the state’s efforts to safeguard vital water resources, protect biodiversity, and conserve ecologically important landscapes.
The purchase was funded by state and federal agencies, including support from the Wildlife Conservation Board and the Sierra Nevada Conservancy. The easement aligns with Task Force goals by assuring the property will be managed to mitigate extreme wildfire risk. It also demonstrates the critical intersection between efforts to promote wildfire resilience with enhancements of watersheds, wildlife habitats, as well as recreation and economic opportunities.
SNC Awards Cultural Burning Grant to Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Nonprofit
SNC Awards Cultural Burning Capacity Grant to Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Nonprofit
August, 2024 – The Sierra Nevada Conservancy (SNC) has awarded $250,000 for the Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Tribe to reduce hazardous fuels through cultural-burning practices and demonstration of traditional ecological knowledge forest management practices on highly visible lands in the wildland urban interface of Nevada City, CA. The funding will support partnership development, training, planning, permitting, and implementation of a cultural burn, along with replanting culturally and ecologically important plants in the restored landscape.
California IBank Invests $25M in Wildfire Innovation Fund
California IBank Invests $25M in Wildfire Innovation Fund
September 3, 2024 – California’s Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank (IBank) announced $25 million from the Climate Catalyst Revolving Loan Fund will be invested in the California Wildfire Innovation Fund to reduce wildfire risk. Funds will be used to restore California forests, improve forest health, and put new biomass technologies to work.
The California Wildfire Innovation Fund is managed by Blue Forest, a conservation finance non-profit that supports entrepreneurs and companies working toward forest restoration and economic revitalization.
The fund offers flexible, low-cost financial support for emerging opportunities across California’s forest restoration and wood utilization sectors.
U.S. Forest Service Announces Funding to Reduce Wildfire Risk
U.S. Forest Service Announces Funding to Local Businesses and Underserved Populations to Reduce Wildfire Risk
$25M Funding Opportunity to Reduce Wildfire Risk
August 6, 2024 – The U.S. Forest Service announced a funding opportunity through the Hazardous Fuels Transportation Assistance program to reduce wildfire risk, increase market opportunities, and support local jobs.
The program is available to local businesses that remove hazardous fuels from national forests and transport the material to be processed for wood products or services. Transporting the materials out of the national forest prevents them from being burned in the forests or left in place where they are subject to insects and diseases that increase the risk for wildfire.
The funding focuses on the removal of hazardous fuels with little commercial value, creating economic opportunities while improving overall forest health and resilience.
$15M to Help Underserved and Small-Acreage Landowners Access Climate Markets
August 28, 2024 – The U.S. Forest Service announced it is investing $15 million to connect underserved and small-acreage forest landowners with emerging climate markets. These investments will expand access to markets that were previously out-of-reach for underserved and small-acreage landowners to access new economic opportunities to maintain healthy working forests as pressures increase to convert forests to other uses. In California, nearly $2 million will go to the Shelterwood Collective, a 900-acre Indigenous, Black, Disabled, and Queer-led community forest and collective of land protectors and cultural changemakers.
CAL FIRE Funds 94 Wildfire Projects
CAL FIRE Funds 94 Wildfire Projects to Build Climate and Community Resilience
August 20, 2024 – CAL FIRE announced grants with $90.8 million in funding for 94 local wildfire prevention projects across California. Wildfire Prevention Grant projects include hazardous fuels reduction and wildfire prevention planning and education, with an emphasis on improving public health and safety while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Over two-thirds of the projects will go to communities that are low-income and disadvantaged. These grants bring CAL FIRE’s Wildfire Prevention Grants Program total funding to $450 million that have supported over 450 projects across the state which have collectively accelerated progress toward the goals of California’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan.
Task Force Launches New Work Group on Healthy Watersheds
Task Force Launches New Work Group on Healthy Watersheds
August 6, 2024 – The Task Force launched its newest work group which focuses on a critical aspect of the CA Wildfire & Forest Resilience Action Plan – the intersection between watershed health and landscape resilience to wildfire.
It’s well known that wildfires adversely impact watersheds. But it’s important to also recognize that healthy watersheds play a key role in mitigating catastrophic wildfires. The Watershed Work Group promotes fire resilience and watershed health programs that share these important priorities.
Visit the Healthy Watersheds Work Group webpage to learn more about the Work Group partnering organizations and to access a list of programs, plans, and strategies focused on California’s water supply and security.
New Conservation Strategy to Protect Montane Forests in Southern California
New Conservation Strategy to Protect Montane Forests in Southern California
July 30, 2024 – The Southern Montane Forest Project released its Climate-Adapted Conservation Strategy, an initiative that will bolster the resilience of montane (i.e. higher-elevation forests) to confront threats from wildfires, droughts, pollution, and invasive species.
The strategy takes an all-lands approach, calling for state, federal, academic, and non-profit efforts to work in concert within the USFS’s Southern California Wildfire Crisis Landscape.
Southern California’s montane forests are a key Task Force priority because they protect watersheds that supply about 40% of downstream water for drinking and agriculture. They capture carbon, prevent soil erosion, and serve as critical habitats for threatened and endangered wildlife. They also supply Indigenous communities with food, fiber, and medicine while providing recreational opportunities to over 24 million people.
Wildfire Response Innovations and Investments Paying Dividends During Busy Fire Season
Wildfire Response Innovations and Investments Paying Dividends During Busy Fire Season
July 31, 2024 – California’s wildfire season has been off to a quick start with above average acres burned. However, recent investments and innovations have improved the state’s wildfire response and show how California is adapting with increased response capacity. The revamped Redding Air Attack Base has increased wildfire suppression capacity for the region. Additionally, for the past year, CAL FIRE and UC San Diego’s ALERTCalifornia has been analyzing camera feeds across California, alerting Emergency Command Centers and first responders to potential fire. Leveraging unprecedented federal and state investments in landscape resilience, California is making strides to protect communities in the face of climate change and increased wildfire activity.