On April 25, the US Forest Service and partners, including the Army Corps of Engineers and the City of Redding, will celebrate the completion of Phase 1 in a five-year, $28 million project to expand airtanker loading capabilities by 132% at the Redding Interagency Air Attack Base. The upgrades allow for simultaneous loading of five aircraft, up from two, and increases the base’s fire-retardant loading capacity from 3 million to 6 million gallons. This base is vital in providing initial and extended attack for wildfires across California and the western United States.

The Task Force FAC Work Group released a Baseline Assessment as part of the FAC Roadmap and Dashboard Project. The purpose of the project is to provide a strategic plan for fire-adapted and resilient communities, based on a holistic and shared vision for FAC. The Baseline Assessment documents a broad sampling of the FAC-related research, actions, and efforts being taken across California to identify and address critical gaps to achieving the FAC vision and goals which will be considered for the ultimate Roadmap and Dashboard deliverables to be developed later in the project.

On January 10, 2024, the Governor introduced a budget proposal that closes a $37.86 billion shortfall while protecting key investments in education, public safety, addressing homelessness, mental health care reform, and climate action. PENDING approval from Dept of Finance With regard to wildfire and forest resilience, the budget proposal maintains most of the previously available $2.8 billion in funding from last year, with a reversion of $100.7 million General Fund for various wildfire programs and an increased funding timeline from 4 years to 5 years.

Pacific Southwest Research Station U.S. Forest Service ecologists have developed new machine learning algorithms to identify potential locations of lost meadows where forests now encroach. Meadows in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains historically covered nearly three times the area they do today. New maps of lost meadows provide a large-scale perspective to help us think differently about the historical importance of meadows and the positive impact their restoration could have on streamflow and wildfire management.

December 14, 2022 – At the Regional Foresters Awards Ceremony in Sacramento, CA, the Leadership Team of the Sustainable Recreation/CALREC Vision Key Working Group (SRCRV) was awarded a Regional Forester’s Honor Award for Partnership of the Year from the U.S. Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region. The award recognizes the Leadership Team’s efforts to develop California’s Joint Strategy for Sustainable Outdoor Recreation and Wildfire Resilience for California’s Wildfire & Forest Resilience Task Force. The Joint Strategy satisfies Key Actions 3.13 and 3.14 of the California Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan. The California Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force will publish the Joint Strategy in early 2023.

Accepting the award with Jennifer Eberlein (second from left), from left to right are Bill Keane, Climate Equity Solutions, Inc.; John Wentworth, Mammoth Lakes Trails and Public Access Foundation; Austin McInerny, Consensus and Collaboration Program, College of Continuing Education, Sacramento State University; and Nancy Parachini, USFS Deputy Director of Public Services.

Wildland firefighters from the Stanislaus National Forest and researchers from Pacific Southwest Research Station conducted a 21-acre prescribed burn on the Tuolumne Experimental Forest on October 29-30, 2022. The prescribed burn was a part of a Timing of Fire Study allowing researchers to compare how seasonal conditions affect the outcomes of prescribed fire. This video shows how we study the effects of prescribed fire and what we can learn.

Pacific Southwest Research Station scientists have found that demographics and funding impact wildfire resilience. To help bridge the gap, the U.S. Forest Service has launched a Community Wildfire Defense Grant program by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to help the communities most at risk.