California Opens Solicitations and Posts Draft Guidelines for Wildfire and Landscape Resilience Grants
California Opens Solicitations and Posts Draft Guidelines for Wildfire and Landscape Resilience Grants
February 25, 2026 – Programs across multiple California agencies announced the availability of funding from the 2024 California Climate Bond (Proposition 4) and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) and posted drafts of grant guidelines for public review and comment.
CAL FIRE Makes $130 Million Available in Wildfire and Landscape Resilience Grants:
- CAL FIRE’s Forest Health program announced the availability of up to $120 million for landscape-scale forest management and restoration efforts designed to improve ecosystem resilience, reduce wildfire risk, and deliver climate benefits such as increased carbon storage and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. The solicitation includes $55 million in GGRF and $65 million in Climate Bond funding. The deadline to apply is March 30, 2026.
- CAL FIRE Business and Workforce Development announced the availability of $10 million in GGRF funds for projects that advance the business of healthy, resilient forests across California by encouraging private investment in clean technologies; employing innovative wood-processing solutions; and supporting the development of a skilled and resilient forest-sector workforce. The deadline to apply is May 20, 2026.
CAL FIRE and Sierra Nevada Conservancy Post Draft Wildfire and Landscape Resilience Grant Guidelines for Review:
The Climate Bond made available funding to “implement regional projects, including, but not limited to, landscape-scale projects developed by forest collaboratives, projects developed by regional entities, and projects that implement strategies developed by state conservancies.” Both CAL FIRE and SNC have posted draft guidelines for public review that will guide the distribution of these funds.
- CAL FIRE is inviting public feedback on draft guidelines for Regional Wildfire & Landscape Resilience Grants. This new grant opportunity will direct $30 million in FY24/25 Climate Bond funding to collaborative land management partnerships and entities that have developed, planned, and are ready to implement portfolios of multi-benefit projects across a landscape. Comments are due April 13, 2026.
- The Sierra Nevada Conservancy (SNC) is inviting public comment on draft Landscape Grant Program Guidelines that will mobilize funds from the 2024 Climate Bond for regional projects, including landscape-scale projects developed by forest collaboratives. This directed grant program will provide substantial funding to collaborative groups working across multi-jurisdictional landscapes, advancing portfolios of restoration and resilience projects that address ecological and community priorities at a meaningful scale. Comments are due March 25, 2026.
California Air Resources Board Releases 2025 Natural and Working Lands Carbon Inventory
California Air Resources Board Releases 2025 Natural and Working Lands Carbon Inventory
February 11, 2026 – The California Air Resources Board (CARB) released a state-of-the-science inventory of carbon stocks and carbon stock change from all lands in California, as well as harvested wood products. This release represents the most comprehensive estimate ever done of California’s carbon stocks in natural working lands, and also includes a supplemental report on the effects of wildfire and forest management on greenhouse gas emissions and carbon stock change. The inventory shows that even with catastrophic wildfires occurring more recently, the state’s natural and working lands have absorbed more carbon than they released since 2001, helping counterbalance emissions from those fires. In most years, emissions from wildfire were lower than rates of uptake due to net primary production. However, in 2008, 2020, and 2021, wildfire emissions greatly exceeded net uptake by trees, shrubs, plants, and grasses.
U.S. EPA Awards $14.7 Million to the Tule River Tribe for Biochar Project
U.S. EPA Awards 14.7 Million to the Tule River Tribe for Biochar Project
February 18, 2026 – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded a $14.7 million grant to a biochar project that will enable the Tule River Tribe of California to tap into carbon credit revenue. Under the project, the Tule River Economic Development Corp. (TREDC) will utilize the EPA grant to construct a biochar production plant in California’s Central Valley that will also have the capacity to generate renewable electricity. According to TREDC estimates, the plant will be able to process up to 31,500 tons of woody residue annually, producing approximately 4,500 tons of biochar and roughly 4,000 megawatt-hours of renewable power each year. Its operations are also projected to be able to remove up to 10,600 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually and provide jobs for Tribal citizens.
California Awards Over $5 Million of Climate Bond Funds for Local Wildfire Resilience Projects
California Awards Over $5 Million of Climate Bond Funds for Local Wildfire Resilience Projects
February 23, 2026 – Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy Awards Over $3.6 Million of Climate Bond Funds for Local Wildfire Prevention: The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy (SMMC) Board approved three grants, funded by Prop 4 (Climate Bond), to support efforts by the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA) to reduce wildfire risk in the Los Angeles area. MRCA received $2,065,500 to support reduction of flashy nonnative fuel, support defensible space, and remove hazard trees; $590,000 for workforce development, to train and deploy fire-ready crews for vegetation management and wildfire readiness and suppression; and $344,500 for structure hardening ad renovations for crew accommodations to support surges in staffing needs for Red Flag and fire events. In addition to the grants to MRCA, SMMC also granted $649,322 to Ventura County Fire Protection District in January for targeted fuel reduction, including fuel breaks, prescribed grazing, and roadside clearing.
February 26, 2026 – Wildlife Conservation Board Awards Grant to Support Biodiversity Enhancement and Cultural Burning: The Wildlife Conservation Board awarded a $1.75 million grant to Pepperwood Foundation, in cooperation with Conservation Corps North Bay, to restore 893 acres of oak woodland and grasslands in Sonoma County. The project reduces fuel loads, enhances biodiversity, restores native grasslands and oak woodlands, and brings back cultural burning as part of land stewardship. An additional $58 million of Climate Bond funding was awarded to projects advancing wildlife crossings, salmon recovery, and public access.
U.S. Department of Interior Launches U.S. Wildland Fire Service
U.S. Department of Interior Launches U.S. Wildland Fire Service
January 2026 – The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) established the new U.S. Wildland Fire Service, which consolidates wildland fire management across the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Office of Aviation Services, Office of Wildland Fire, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to streamline wildfire prevention, response, and recovery efforts across public lands administered by DOI. The U.S. Wildland Fire Service works to reduce wildfire risk through proactive fuels management; create fire-resilient landscapes; advance wildland fire science and technology; promote fire-adapted communities; and respond to wildfires in collaboration with the U.S. Forest Service and Tribal, state and local partners.
The new service was created following Executive Order 14308, Empowering Commonsense Wildfire Prevention and Response, which directs federal agencies to streamline and modernize wildland fire management nationwide and the DOI Secretary’s Order 3443, Elevating and Unifying DOI’s Wildland Fire Management Program, which directs the establishment of U.S. Wildland Fire Service within the Interior Department. The service will provide wildland fire management on over 500 million acres of public and Tribal lands across the nation, employ 5,780 federal wildland fire personnel annually, and supports approximately 900 tribal wildland fire personnel.
CAL FIRE Launches Forest Health Education Campaign
CAL FIRE Launches Forest Health Education Campaign
February 17, 2026 – CAL FIRE launched a new 2026 forest health media and education campaign. The campaign is aimed at helping Californians better understand the role healthy forests play in mitigating the growing wildfire threat and highlights the actions we can take together to reduce risk and protect lives, communities, and natural resources. A key focus of the campaign is highlighting proactive forest management, including beneficial fire as well as the important role individuals play at home and in their communities to prepare for wildfire through home hardening and by creating and maintaining defensible space. To support wildfire resilience messaging and public awareness, the campaign includes a new toolkit that contains easily customizable graphics and copy for use on social media, banners, and billboards.
Governor’s January Budget Invests $457 Million in Wildfire and Forest Resilience
Governor’s January Budget Invests $457 Million in Wildfire and Forest Resilience
January 9, 2026 – The Governor’s proposed 2026–27 January Budget allocates $457 million to advance wildfire and forest resilience statewide, including $142 million from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) and $315 million from Climate Bond funding. Due to auction proceeds from the November 2025 Cap-and-Invest auction coming in lower than anticipated, the proposal adjusts the GGRF continuous appropriation to $142 million, with funding prioritized to sustain key capacity, including grant administration staffing, 10 dedicated fuels crews for prescribed fire and fuel reduction, and continued grant support for healthy forests and fire prevention projects. Climate Bond investments will be distributed across CAL FIRE, the Department of Conservation, California State Parks, the California Conservation Corps, and state conservancies, supporting on-the-ground projects that reduce wildfire risk and strengthen community and landscape resilience.
Six Months After the LA Fires, California Continues Unprecedented Recovery Campaign
Six Months After the LA Fires, California Continues Unprecedented Recovery Campaign
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.
CAL FIRE Releases Vegetation Burn Severity Online Viewer
CAL FIRE Releases Vegetation Burn Severity Online Viewer
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.
California Allocates $9.5 Million for Wildfire County Coordinator Program
California Invests $9.5 Million for Wildfire County Coordinator Program
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
