July 7, 2025 – On the six month anniversary of the Eaton and Palisades fires, Governor Newsom announced the substantial completion of the public debris removal program from more than 10,000 fire damaged parcels. The near-completion of the public debris removal program comes months ahead of schedule. The LA Fires cleanup is the second largest in state history after the Camp Fire and was jointly managed by the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) and United States Army Corps of Engineers, in partnership with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), as well Los Angeles County and City of Los Angeles. Of the 12,048 total properties destroyed in the twin fires, 9,873 opted to participate in the cost-free public cleanup program. 

Following cleanup, the Governor signed Executive Order N-29-25 to accelerate rebuilding homes and schools impacted by the fires by suspending local permitting laws and building codes. To further spur rebuilding the Governor and the California Department of Housing and Community Development announced the release of $101 million to help rapidly rebuild critically needed, affordable multifamily rental housing in the fire-devastated LA region. 

July 15, 2025 – CAL FIRE’s Fire and Resource Assessment Program (FRAP) released the California Vegetation Burn Severity Online Viewer, a public geospatial tool that displays burn severity data for wildfires across all land ownerships that burned at least 1,000 acres in California from 2015 to 2023. In accordance with Senate Bill 1101, FRAP developed this viewer to enhance public understanding of post-fire conditions and ecological impacts. It offers insight into the severity of impacts to vegetation across both forested and non-forested landscapes. The viewer will support post-fire recovery planning, inform habitat management and conservation efforts, enhance safety through insights for fire suppression planning, and improve preparedness by helping prescribed fire practitioners plan treatments based on past burn severity and fuel changes. Users can view fire perimeters, severity maps, and proportional area statistics for each fire. The viewer will be updated annually to include new fires under 1,000 acres.

July 31, 2025 – With the support of Governor Newsom and the California State Legislature, the 2025-26 budget will provide $9.5 million for the Wildfire County Coordinator Program. Delivered in partnership between the California Fire Safe Council and CAL FIRE, the program establishes critical local capacity in 47 California counties with dedicated coordinators to secure funding, implement mitigation projects, engage vulnerable populations, and build resilience in high-risk communities. Coordinators serve as the crucial link between state strategy and local execution—ensuring California communities are better prepared, better connected, and more resilient to wildfire. The program will continue:

• Operationalizing California’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan at the county level;
• Accelerating home hardening, defensible space implementation, and public education;
• Standardizing data collection to track local and statewide wildfire resilience progress; and
• Improving public safety, community insurability, and wildfire preparedness in California’s highest-risk regions.

Impact of the Wildfire County Coordinator Program

Investments in community capacity through the program have already produced substantial mitigation and resiliency benefits:

• Secured over $85M in funding for local wildfire mitigation projects;
• Coordinated with over 10,000 organizations to increase collaboration, break down silos, and leverage resources for community mitigation;
• Hosted over 3,800 events for community engagement and education;
• Educated and empowered over 800,000 residents to take action for wildfire resilience; and
• Established more than 100 new FireWise Communities and Fire Safe Councils.
  

Testimonials from the Wildfire County Coordinators

“The Program has allowed Del Norte County Fire Safe Council to protect many underserved residents and coordinate with other wildfire mitigation groups to maximize impact. Our County Coordinator has brought nearly $4 million in federal funding to Del Norte County, created defensible space around 372 homes, and completed 1,500 home assessments.”
– Aaron Babcock, Del Norte County

“A small investment in capacity can lead to sustainable, long-term improvements for any organization. Because of the County Coordinator Grant, Plumas Fire Safe Council had the capacity to obtain a $6.8 million dollar grant dedicated to hazardous fuels reduction and assessment.”
– Liam Gallaher, Plumas County

“The County Coordinator Grant has supported collaboration in our county by allowing us to create a collaborative meeting of 14 fire prevention agencies in the county to better inform the public and improve our ability to leverage funds and labor.”
– Jon Cottington, Madera County

“We’ve been able to significantly expand our youth education impact by implementing three new school programs and getting back into the classroom with students for the first time since the 2018 Camp Fire.”
– Lauren de Terra, Butte County

“The program has given us the time and opportunity to strengthen our outreach countywide while implementing critical fuel reduction programs. We’ve also been able translate educational materials into Spanish, expanding our outreach to underserved populations.”
– Marika Ramsen, Sonoma County

“We’ve reduced redundancy, supported capacity and collaboration for other Fire Safe Councils, and boosted community engagement through Firewise USA. We also learn from other County Coordinators & implement those lessons learned.”
– Stephen Watson, Ventura County  

July 17, 2025 – The U.S. Forest Service announced awarding $80 million in Wood Innovations and Wood Product Infrastructure Grants to spur wood products manufacturing, expand active forest management, and accelerate energy innovation. Of these investments, nearly $8 million will go to 16 projects in California. A list of California awardees is below:

Wood Product Infrastructure Assistance Grant Program:

• Alpenglow Timber, LLC – $906,492: Establishes sawmill operations to support reduced wildfire risk and active forest management on National Forests and tribal forestlands in California and Nevada. 
• California Hotwood, Inc. – $232,000: Upgrades firewood processing capacity to support reduced wildfire risk and active forest management on National Forests in California. 
• Fall River Resource Conservation District – $252,642: Upgrades and modernization of biomass power facility operations to support reduced wildfire risk and active forest management on National Forests in California. 
• Franklin Logging, Inc. – $907,568: Upgrades to lumber drying operations at sawmill to support reduced wildfire risk and active forest management on National Forests in California. 
• Green Diamond Resource Company – $337,500: Establishes a stationary chipping facility to utilize small diameter and low value species in support of wildfire risk reduction and active forest management on National Forests in California. 
• Lignum Support, LLC – $1,000,000: Upgrades and expansion of forest residues chipping operations for biomass energy to expand the utilization of forest residues and reduce wildfire risk and support active forest management on National Forests in California. 
• Pacific Ultrapower Chinese Station – $960,000: Improves operational efficiencies at biomass power plant to support reduced wildfire risk and active forest management on National Forests in California. 
• Tuolumne Biomass, LLC – $999,131: Upgrades small log processing operation to expand markets for small diameter and lower value species and support reduced wildfire risk and active forest management on National Forests in California.
  

Wood Innovations Grant Program:

• American Wood Fibers, Inc. – $300,000: Installs wood pellet mill to increase low-value wood utilization while supporting active forest management in California. 
• DTE Materials Inc. – $300,000: Advances the production of wood concrete aggregates to improve utilization of low-value biomass and support active forest management. 
• Enfilade Partners – $300,000: Designs and engineers a mass timber affordable housing project to accelerate the adoption of domestic mass timber thereby increasing active forest management and markets for small-diameter timber. 
• Falk Forestry, Inc – $299,664: Establishes sawmill and firewood production to increase timber utilization and active forest management in Northern California. 
• Fall River Resource Conservation District – $150,000: Establishes biochar production capabilities to support active forest management and wildfire risk reduction across national forests in California. 
• Happy Camp Community Action, Inc. – $300,000: Advances the development of a new wood composite product to improve utilization of low-value biomass and support active forest management. 
• Loamist, Co. – $300,000: Identifies locations for new low-value biomass markets to support active forest management and wildfire risk reduction in California.
• Sierra Institute for Community and Environment – $300,000: Installs mass timber manufacturing equipment thereby increasing active forest management across western forests.