See Progress on Protecting People and Communities from Wildfire
From day 1, Governor Newsom declared California’s firefighters and wildfire resilience as a top priority of his administration. And California and partners continue to deliver nation-leading results. Since taking office, the Governor has committed more resources and investments than ever before to significantly boost wildfire response capabilities while tackling root causes of the wildfire crisis head-on.
Here are the top 5 things to know about California’s progress on protecting people and communities from wildfire:
1. Historic Investments Making Big Impacts Statewide
• Invested $2.5 billion: California has invested more than $2.5 billion in wildfire resilience since 2021 and the Governor is committing to invest an additional $1.5 billion from the 2024 voter-approved climate bond (known as Proposition 4).
• Doubled CAL FIRE resources: To support more effective wildfire response, CAL FIRE nearly doubled its fire protection staff since 2019 from 5,829 to 10,741 positions, and nearly doubled its fire protection budget from $2 billion to $3.8 billion.
• Added 2,400 firefighters: The Governor’s proposed investments will add 2,400 new firefighters to CAL FIRE’s firefighting force over the next five years.
• Boosted Cal OES: Since 2019, the budget of the California Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), a key agency in responding to and rebuilding after fires, increased from $1.8 billion to $3.1 billion, and its staffing grew from 1,139 to 1,879 positions.
2. On the Ground in California's Wildlands: Unprecedented Results in Record Time
• Launched 2,200 projects: These historic investments continue to pay off. More than 2,200 landscape health and fire prevention projects are underway, and from 2021-2023, the state and its partners treated nearly 1.9 million acres, including nearly 730,000 acres in 2023.
• Nearly doubled prescribed fire: Prescribed fire treatments nearly doubled between 2021 and 2023. Federal, state, and local agencies completed 260,000 acres of prescribed fire treatments in 2023.
• Created emergency teams: State and federal partners have established 15 Emergency Forest Restoration Teams (EFRTs) across the state to rapidly restore private forestlands after fires.
• Awarded $500 million to forest health: Since 2021, CAL FIRE has committed more than $500 million in support of 150 wildfire and forest resilience projects through its Forest Health Grant Program
• Built local capacity: The Department of Conservations’s Regional Forest and Fire Capacity (RFFC) program has awarded more than $140 million to communities across the state to create fire adapted communities and landscapes.
• Promoted tribal projects: CAL FIRE awarded $25.7 million in 2023 and 2024 for 18 projects to help California Native American tribes manage ancestral lands and promote wildfire resilience.
3. New Tools Increase Transparency and Show Progress in Action
• Innovative tools for tracking progress: The Governor’s Task Force launched an Interagency Treatment Dashboard to display completed federal, state, local, and private vegetation management projects across the state. The Dashboard, launched in 2023, provides transparency, tracks progress, facilitates planning, and informs firefighting efforts.
• Documenting effectiveness: See for yourself. CAL FIRE’s Fuels Treatment Effectiveness Dashboard spotlights and documents how recent wildfire resilience projects are protecting communities and landscapes when wildfire strikes. Examples of effective resilience projects include the Loafer Creek LLC Vegetation Management Project, where prescribed fires and forest health treatments slowed the 2024 Park Fire and the Starchman Fuel Break Project that reduced the rate of spread of the 2024 French Fire, enabling fire crews to extinguish it.
4. Protecting Neighborhoods and Empowering Communities to Join the Movement
• Awarded $450 million for wildfire prevention: Since 2019, CAL FIRE has awarded more than $450 million for 450 wildfire prevention projects across the state, and conducts Defensible Space Inspections on more than 250,000 homes each year.
• Protecting homes: CAL FIRE established a new California Wildfire Mitigation Assistance Program to coordinate regional and local efforts with state policies, strategies, and programs for community wildfire mitigation, including a home hardening initiative that will provide funding for defensible space and ignition resistant retrofits to approximately 2,400 homes.
• Providing smoke updates: CARB’s California Smoke Spotter mobile app and Prescribed Fire Information Reporting System provide real-time information on smoke impacts from wildfires and prescribed burns.
5. Leading the Future of Fire: Expanding Capacity and Leveraging Technology to Tackle Wildfire
In addition to ramping up state work to increase landscape and community resilience, the Governor has substantially increased funding and staffing levels at CAL FIRE and Cal OES to improve the state’s ability to track, fight, and recover from fires.
• Increased firefighting capacity: CAL FIRE has enhanced its firefighting capabilities with 16 state of the art helicopters (FireHawks) and 7 C-130 tankers. And since 2019, CAL FIRE has added 55 type III engines, for a total of 398. Cal OES has added 106 engines to its fleet, for a total of 261.
• Utilizing AI to detect fires: CAL FIRE partnered with UC San Diego to support the development of ALERTCalifornia which utilizes AI to identify and monitor wildfires. ALERTCalifornia was named one of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2023.
• Integrated fire forecasting: In 2021, Cal OES and CAL FIRE established the Wildfire Forecast and Threat Intelligence Integration Center, in collaboration with the California Military Department and California Public Utilities Commission, to serve as the state’s central organizing hub for wildfire forecasting and coordination of wildfire threat intelligence and data sharing.
• Leveraging technology for fire response: CAL FIRE and Cal OES have also invested heavily in drones, satellite technology for advanced mapping, and AI-powered tools to spot fires quicker, and a Fire Integrated Real-Time Intelligence System (FIRIS) to provide real-time mapping of wildfires.
See Highlights From a Busy Year for the Task Force
ADVANCEMENTS IN MEASURING PROGRESS
Interagency Treatment Dashboard Shows Progress Toward Resilience
The updated Dashboard shows three years of data with treatments on 700,000 acres in 2023 and prescribed fire acres more than doubling between 2021 and 2023.
New CAL FIRE Dashboard Shows Effectiveness of Fuels Treatments
The dashboard shows on-the-ground projects protecting communities and landscapes from recent wildfires.
New Webpage Brings Together California’s Wildfire and Landscape Resilience Monitoring and Assessment Programs
Centralized resource provides detailed information on California’s various monitoring and assessment programs to understand the complementary relationship between these efforts.
ABOUT THE TASK FORCE
The California Wildfire & Forest Resilience Task Force was created by the Office of Governor Gavin Newsom to directly confront the near perfect storm of climatic and human-caused conditions that have brought the threat of devastating wildfire and its far-reaching effects to the doorstep of nearly everyone in our state, and beyond.
The Task Force is a collaborative effort to align the activities of federal, state, local, public, private, and tribal organizations to support programs and projects tailored to the priorities and risks of each region and bring the best available science to forest management and community protection efforts.
The critical work of the Task Force effects all Californians, and Task Force meetings offer an ideal opportunity for members of the press to hear directly from those involved in the comprehensive, coordinated efforts to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires and create safe communities while ensuring healthier, more sustainable natural environments.
MORE 2024 HIGHLIGHTS
California Passes Proposition 4 – Providing $1.5 Billion for Wildfire Resilience
The approval of Prop 4 is a major advancement for California to reach goals set in the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan.
U.S. Forest Service Completes Record Setting Year for Prescribed Fire
The U.S. Forest Service successfully treated over 72,000 acres with prescribed fire in California during the 2024 fiscal year.
Leading Researchers Share Science Synthesis to Drive California’s Actions to Improve Wildfire Resilience
At the December 13 meeting in Sacramento, a panel of scientists presented new findings to guide California’s efforts to respond to increasing wildfire risks in a changing climate.
Regional Meetings in San Diego and Lake Tahoe
Two regional meeting were held in 2024, along with two more in Sacramento. Hundreds of people came away from the meetings having learned new information, and having made new connections, and inspired to make positive change.
Join Us at our Upcoming Meetings
• March 27 & 28: Marin County
• June 6: Sacramento
• September 4 & 5: TBD
• December 12: Sacramento
SPREAD THE WORD IN 2025
Promote the Task Force in Your Communications
Task Force communications provides an important source of vital information that covers the combined effort of all organizations involved in landscape resilience and the prevention of wildfires in California. Please follow and share Task Force communications when you can.
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CAL FIRE & USFS Investments Confront California’s Wildfire Crisis & Expand Urban Forests
CAL FIRE & USFS Investments Confront California’s Wildfire Crisis & Expand Urban Forests
October 17 – USFS Invests $15 Million to Confront California’s Wildfire Crisis
The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) announced $100 million will be invested in 21 new projects to expand work on the USFS Wildfire Crisis Strategy to reduce the threat of wildfire in high-risk areas across the country. $15 million will fund three projects in California helping further Task Force goals of protecting communities in the Wildland Urban Interface.
- Sequoia National Forest – $5 million to reduce wildfire risk to the Breckenridge and Pine Flat communities through thinning and prescribed fire, with wood byproducts going to a biomass facility or the local sawmill when viable.
- Eldorado National Forest – $5 million for hazardous fuels reduction, strategic fuels breaks, and prescribed fire on the Georgetown Divide. The project will also create strategic fuel breaks near residential and commercial infrastructure in Volcanoville and Georgetown, including a high-powered electric transmission line.
- Tahoe National Forest – $5 million to reduce hazardous fuels, create defensible space around six communities, create safe ingress and egress along 6.3 miles of road, and engage at least seven partner groups, including local tribes.
September 20 – CAL FIRE and USFS Award $31 million to 22 Urban Forestry Projects in California
CAL FIRE and USFS announced nearly $31 million in Urban and Community Forestry grants in California focused on urban forestry topics of management, expansion and improvement, education, workforce development, capacity building, and green schoolyards. The projects are intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve the functionality of urban forests, arrest the decline of urban forest resources, address climate change resilience, improve the quality of the environment in urban areas, and increase access to environmental career pathways. All funded projects will directly serve priority populations within one or more defined disadvantaged and/or low-income communities in an urban area.
CAL FIRE Forest Health Research Grant Program: Applications are now open for the Forest Health Research Program which is offering $4 million in research funding through its FY 2024-2025 grant solicitation. These grants will support research that directly benefits landowners, resource agencies, fire management organizations, and decision-makers throughout the state.
New Website Offers a Deep Dive into Intentional Fire
New Website Offers a Deep Dive into Intentional Fire
July 25, 2024 – Intentionalfire.org, a new educational website from the Climate & Wildfire Institute, offers an immersive, interactive view into the use of intentional fire, including prescribed fire and cultural fire. The website provides concise and easy to understand information about the benefits and importance of intentional fire. It also features engaging audio and video clips, project case studies, and actionable steps for people to help advance intentional fire in their communities. Increased use of intentional fire is a critical component of California’s Strategic Plan for Expanding the Use of Beneficial Fire.
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
Wildfire-Safety Work Completed in South Fork Mokelumne Watershed
Wildfire-Safety Work Completed in South Fork Mokelumne Watershed
One year after the 2015 Butte Fire destroyed nearly 500 residences nearby, CAL FIRE identified the South Fork Mokelumne River watershed as a top priority for fuels reduction in order to protect communities from future wildfires. With the recent completion of the South Fork Mokelumne River Watershed Restoration Project Phase 3, many of those wildfire worries have, fortunately, been doused.
Funded by the Sierra Nevada Conservancy (SNC) in 2019, Phase 3 removed small-diameter trees and ladder fuels on 285 acres of dense, pine-plantation forests managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), completing the project’s goal of restoring roughly 500 acres of forest. Considering the project area borders many neighborhoods and is surrounded by nearby towns, such as Glencoe, Sandy Gulch, Rail Road Flat, and Wilseyville, this strategic work should greatly reduce the threat of wildfire for thousands of Calaveras County residents.
Post Fire Restoration Symposium
Post Fire Restoration Symposium
This virtual symposium focused on how monitoring and research in the southern Sierra Nevada can support post fire restoration planning and help to inform adaptive management. Topics included treatment effects on wildlife, variable density treatments in plantations, hardwood management, aquatics and meadow restoration. Panel discussions provided the opportunity for collaboration on the implications of the work and how to apply this knowledge to future post fire management. The virtual symposium was held and recorded on July 14, 2022.
Presented by: USDA Forest Service Ecology Program, ACCG, SOFAR, and hosted by the California Fire Science Consortium
Sequoia National Forest Restoring Rough Fire Area With Partners
Sequoia National Forest Restoring Rough Fire Area With Partners
Contractors have begun implementing about 1,340 acres of an approximately 4,900-acre restoration project in the footprint of the 2015 Rough Fire affecting the Kings River drainage in Hume Lake Ranger District. The project is a partnership with the Great Basin Institute and American Forests, with funding from CAL FIRE’s Forest Health Program.
RESOURCES
Drill down into more details from the USFS on the Rough Plantation Restoration and Maintenance Project